16 December 2020
Juventus and Atalanta shared the spoils as they played to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday evening at Allianz Stadium. Federico Chiesa struck first with a stunning curling effort, before Frueler’s rocket and Ronaldo’s saved penalty in the second half meant that the points were shared.
CHIESA CURLS INTO TOP BIN
Atalanta were pressing high from the get-go and they forced a save from Szczesny in the fourth minute with a Pessina half-volley that was smothered. That was then followed by a defensive misunderstanding from the Bergamaschi side, which resulted in Morata pouncing on a back pass that went unnoticed by Romero, he pulled back to Ronaldo, who fired over the goal. The Bianconeri rued the chance they didn’t capitalise on in the 11th minute: Morata beat the offside trap and played it across to Ronaldo in a 2 vs 1 situation. Ronaldo's shot was blocked, but the ball was still clear for Morata, who back heeled it towards goal only to see it go wide of an open goal. De Ligt then charged down Duvan Zapata’s shot, while Arthur had to be substituted by Rabiot due to an injury. Juventus claimed a 1-0 lead just before the half hour through a stunning strike by Federico Chiesa: Bentancur fed him the ball, he shimmied away from his marker and curled in a swerving strike into the top corner of the net. Szczesny was called into action moments later and he pulled off an excellent save on a one-on-one situation to deny Zapata.
FRUELER EQUALISES, GOLLINI DENIES JUVE
The start second half saw saw Juve come very close to doubling the lead when a Morata-McKennie give and go saw the Spaniard fire at goal, only have Gollini rush off his line and block the ball with his face. Atalanta drew level in the 57th minute through a rocket by Freuler that flew in the underside of the bar. Juve went on the hunt to regain their lead and they had two opportunities to make it 2-1 but were denied by Gollini: the first was a save on Ronaldo’s penalty after Chiesa went down in the box, and the second was a cat-like reflex save to deny Morata. Next up was Szczesny’s turn to make a save, and he went into full flight to palm away Romero’s header. Gollini denied Danilo’s angled drive with his foot, while Tek palmed away Papu Gomez’s effort, as the game ended 1-1
Juventus: Szczesny; Cuadrado, De Ligt, Bonucci, Danilo; McKennie, Arthur (Rabiot 26’), Bentancur, Chiesa (Alex Sandro 75’); Morata (Dybala 84’), Ronaldo
Juventus bench: Buffon, Pinsoglio, Alex Sandro, Dragusin, Frabotta, Ramsey, Rabiot, Bernardeschi, Portanova, Kulusevski, Dybala, Da Graca
Atalanta: Gollini; Palomino, Romero, Djimsiti; Hateboer, De Roon, Freuler, Gosens; Malinovskyi, Pessina; Duvan Zapata
Atalanta bench: Rossi, Sportiello, Sutalo, Lammers, Muriel, Gomez, Mojica, Depaoli, Gyabuaa, Miranchuk, Amad Diallo
