27 August 2023
The first home outing of season 23/24 ended in a 1-1 draw with Bologna. Juventus levelled the scoreline with 10 minutes to play through Dusan Vlahovic, his sixth goal in as many matches against the Rossoblu, after the visitors had taken a first half lead.
The draw puts the Bianconeri on four points from the opening two games.
THE MATCH
Expectations were high among the fans that flocked to the Allianz Stadium, especially considering the confident performance in the opening fixture against Udinese.
Instead, Juve struggled to make inroads in the first half against Thiago Motta’s well-drilled Bologna. The visitors closed down the flanks and took advantage of their own pressing game to head into the interval with the advantage.
Both defences held firm until the midway point of the first half when Mattia Perin, replacing the injured Wojciech Szczesny, blocked an effort from Dan Ndoye. A minute later, however, Bologna took the lead when Joshua Zirkzee played through Lewis Ferguson. The midfielder received possession inside the penalty area and took his time before placing the ball into the far corner.
A goal behind, Juve raised the tempo and crafted their first chances of the game, both of which fell to Nicolò Fagioli. In quick succession, his shots were blocked by the Bologna defence. While, visiting goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski made his first save of note with three minutes to play of the opening spell, punching away a free kick from Andrea Cambiaso.
It was a transformed Juventus that emerged from the dressing room. After pinning back the visitors inside their own half from the restart, the Bianconeri appeared to have drawn level on 52 minutes. Dusan Vlahovic struck from close range to divert a Bremer cross into the net. However, the striker’s joy was short lived as VAR intervened, and the referee confirmed Adrien Rabiot’s offside position when Vlahovic shot.
Unaffected, Juve kept up the pressure and four minutes later, Tim Weah’s rasping drive was tipped wide by Skorupski. Still the hosts pressed on, but after Fagioli saw his shot ruffle the side netting.
All this within the opening quarter of an hour of the second half.
With Bologna having ridden out the initial storm, Massimiliano Allegri turned to the bench for inspiration. The coach called on Paul Pogba and Samuel Iling Jr. to provide new impetus and it was the two substitutes that linked up in the move that led to the equaliser. Pogba shrugged off a couple of tackles in the centre of the park before releasing Iling on the run down the right. The winger’s first time cross was met majestically by Vlahovic, whose header gave Skorupski no chance.
With 10 minutes to play, Juve were level.
However, despite as many as seven minutes of time added on, the Bianconeri couldn’t complete the turnaround and had to settle for a share of the points.
JUVENTUS 1-1 BOLOGNA (HT: 0-1)
Scorers: 23′ Ferguson, 80′ Vlahovic
JUVENTUS: Perin, Danilo, Bremer, Alex Sandro; Weah (80′ Yildiz), Fagioli (66′ Pogba), Locatelli (80′ McKennie), Rabiot, Cambiaso (66′ Iling); Vlahovic, Chiesa (73′ Milik). Subs not used: Pinsoglio, Garofani, Gatti, Huijsen, Rugani, Kostic, Miretti, Nicolussi Caviglia, Kean, Soulé. Coach: Allegri.
BOLOGNA: Skorupski; Posch, Beukema, Lucumì, Lykogiannis (60′ Corazza); Moro (60′ Dominguez), Aebischer (84′ El Azzouzi); Ndoye (90’+1′ Fabbian), Ferguson, Orsolini (60′ Karlsson); Zirkzee. Subs not used: Ravaglia, Gasperini, Joaquin Sosa, Bonifazi, De Silvestri, Van Hooijdonk, Urbanski. Coach: Thiago Motta.
Referee: Di Bello
Bookings: 11′ Rabiot, 16′ Posch, 86' Yildiz
