06 February 2022
After the stalemate with Fiorentina last time out, Juventus Women returned to winning ways in the league to get their title bid back on track, while the teams in and around the Bianconere kept up the pressure with victories over the weekend.
A solitary own goal by Irene Lotti was enough for Juventus to clinch all three points when the midfielder made a desperate tackle in a bid to prevent Amanda Nilden from scoring after Andrea Staskova set her up.
The visitors were reduced to ten players when Annahita Zamanian was given her marching orders in the 63rd minute, but the rearguard held firm and Roberta Aprile kept Lineth Cedeno’s dangerous free kick out of harm’s way. There was also good news in the shape of Linda Sembrant’s long-awaited return to action 274 days after her previous appearance for the club.
Joe Montemurro sent out a line-up with Aprile in goal, Lundorf, Gama, Sembrant and Boattin in defence, Rosucci, Grosso and Zamanian in midfield and Nilden, Staskova Cernoia leading the line. Besides Sembrant’s return to action, Julia Grosso made her maiden start for the Bianconere in Verona.
Juve made a fast start as expected, with Sara Gama spurning an early opportunity in the seventh minute when she fired over the bar.
Verona shut up shop and didn’t allow the visitors time or space to play their usual flowing game. Lisa Boattin tried her luck from long range with 36 minutes on the clock, but Benedicte Halland made a flying save to keep it out.
The teams went in goalless at the interval and the second half followed a similar pattern with Juve pushing for an opener and going close as early as the 50th minute when Nilden’s effort thumped the post before Anna Catelli cleared the danger ahead of Valentina Cernoia.
The opener did come three minutes later after some stunning play by Staskova in the box to make space for a stinging cross that Lotti diverted into her own net.
Having opened the scoring, Juve went in search of a second, but were soon forced into a change of strategy when Zamanian received her second caution of the game, allowing Verona to play the final 30 minutes or so with an extra player.
The visitors dug in and showed their grit to minimise the risk and also managed to carve out more opportunities to extend their lead.
In the end, there would prove to be no more goals, as Juve headed home with three points in the bag on a day when Vanessa Panzeri made her return to the fray in the closing stages.
MISTER MONTEMURRO
"We suffered a bit with ten on the field, but the performance was good: we dominated with the ball and created many opportunities, taking home the three points without conceding a goal. This was important and it was also important to give Grosso more minutes to play and to get Sembrant and Panzeri back on the pitch."
Hellas Verona-Juventus 0-1 (HT: 0-0)
Scorer: Lotti 53' (OG)
Hellas Verona: Haaland, Ledri, Jelencic, Pasini (De Cao 61'), Cedeno, Catelli, Rognoni (Mancus 77'), Ambrosi, Lotti (Quazzico 89'), Imprezzabile, Horvat.
Unused substitutes: Gritti, De Sanctis, Marchiori, Oliva, Anghileri, Cabrerai.
Juventus: Aprile, Gama, Nilden (Hurtig 72'), Cernoia, Rosucci, Staskova (Bonfantini 90+2'), Lundorf (Panzeri 84'), Boattin, Grosso (Bonansea 72'), Zamanian, Sembrant (Lenzini 84').
Unused substitutes: Forcinella, Hyyrynen, Girelli.
