15 December 2018
It was an ugly, chaotic derby with not much good football on display and chances few and far between. An old-school derby if ever there was one. Yet Juve emerged victorious thanks to their greater experience and Cristiano Ronaldo's second-half penalty – the Bianconeri's 5000th goal in Serie A and their 15th win from 16 league games this term.
MORE FIGHT THAN FOOTBALL
In a derby void of any great spectacle, it wasn't until the 15th minute that we saw a chance of note. Ronaldo was presented with the opportunity to shoot and he struck it well, drawing a fine save out of Salvatore Sirigu.
A few minutes later the goalkeeper was forced to leave the pitch after hurting his back in a collision Emre Can, with Salvador Ichazo coming on in his place.
It was a gritty, scrappy contest which of course did nothing to favour the more technical side, and Torino ended up having more of the ball than might have been expected. The Bianconeri got caught up in the chaos, their play suffered as a result, mistakes were made, and the only other chance in the first half was Giorgio Chiellini's acrobatic backheel from Paulo Dybala's corner, which ended up in Ichazo's arms.
RONALDO PENNER
The second half began with La Joya teeing up Blaise Matuidi, whose shot finished wide, but Andrea Belotti's pace was proving to be a problem – Miralem Pjanic and Emre Can both got themselves booked – and the Torino man saw a shot of his own deflected behind for a corner.
Juve responded with Alex Sandro putting in a low ball for Matuidi, which Ichazo got to first, then Ronaldo's cross was knocked down by Mario Mandzukic for Dybala, who found his path blocked.
Torino's tempo began to drop off but chances were still hard to come by. However, when Mandzukic darted through the area to intercept Simone Zaza's back pass and was brought down by Ichazo, Juve were handed a gilt-edged opportunity.
Ronaldo stepped up and made no mistake from 12 yards: the keeper got a touch on it but could not prevent him CR7 from scoring Juve's 5000th Serie A goal.
Three minutes later, Mandzukic thought he had put the game to bed when he headed in from Pjanic's free kick, but Ronaldo's offside position saw the goal chalked off.
In any case, one goal was all Juve needed because they were now in charge of proceedings. They kept the ball, ran no risks and saw out the game. Claiming the local bragging rights once again.
TORINO 0-1 JUVENTUS (HT 0-0) SCORER: Ronaldo 70 (pen). TORINO Sirigu (Ichazo 20); N'Koulou. Izzo, Djidji; Aina (Berenguer 85), Baselli, Meité, Rincon, Ansaldi (Parigini 76); Zaza, Belotti. Subs not used: Rosati, De Silvestri, Bremer, Moretti, Lukic, Soriano, Damascan, Edera, Iago Falque. Coach: Mazzarri.
JUVENTUS Perin; De Sciglio, Bonucci, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Can, Pjanic, Matuidi; Dybala; Mandzukic, Ronaldo. Subs not used: Szczesny, Pinsoglio, Benatia, Rugani, Spinazzola, Bernardeschi, Douglas Costa, Kean. Coach: Allegri. REFEREE: Guida. ASSISTANTS: Preti, Costanzo. FOURTH OFFICIAL: Marinelli. VAR: Mazzoleni, Paganessi.
BOOKED: Zaza 27, Pjanic 48, Emre Can 51, Ronaldo 70, Ansaldi 72, Perin 90+2.
