24 November 2019
Juventus Women return back to top spot in the Serie A table following their dominant display in Rome.
Both sides started the game well at Roma’s Tre Fontane, with Juventus and Roma seeing early spells of possession in their opposing halves. However, the Bianconere grew more into the game and their first big chance came on 11 minutes. Tuija Hyyrynen’s shot from distance deflected into the path of Cristiana Girelli but the Juve number 10 could only glance her header just wide of the goal.
After half an hour of play, the Bianconere finally broke the deadlock, having been sent through on the right-hand side, Brazilian winger, Maria Alves looked to play a cross into the box, but the ball looped over Roma goalkeeper, Camelia Ceasar and into the back of the net to make it 1-0. Juve couldn’t rest on their laurels however, as just a minute later Laura Giuliani had to be alert to save from close range, first from Elisa Bartoli and then from Lindsey Thomas.
Into the second half great link-up play between Alves and Girelli almost saw Juve double their lead immediately, only for Girelli’s effort to go just over the bar.
It was 2-0 to Juventus after just over an hour of play. Arianna Caruso’s delicious free-kick into the Roma box met the head of Girelli who made no mistake this time to double the Bianconere’s advantage.
On 82 minutes, the returning Barabara Bonansea came inches away from providing a splendid assist, as her dummy sold two Roma defenders on the left-hand side and her pinpoint cross into the box was only just poked wide by fellow substitute, Andrea Staskova.
Four minutes later and Rita Guarino’s girls removed any doubt of the result through a simply stunning strike from Martina Rosucci. The Juve midfielder advanced forward and hit the ball on her right from 30 yards that flew into the top corner!
Juve were still not done there, as two minutes into stoppage time, Caruso went for goal from distance and despite Ceasar’s initial hand she couldn’t keep the ball from crossing the line.
With four goals and three points, Juventus Women remain in the lead in the standings by two points and will fully have the momentum behind them when they host 3rdplace Fiorentina next weekend at Vinovo.
MATCH REACTION
"We are continuing our journey in a balanced league - is the analysis of coach Rita Guarino. - When you face teams of this technical level you have to play with the utmost determination. We knew we were facing a strong team, which they showed and only with determination could we bring the home the result. Today, I asked the team for more concentration with the finer details and they responded well, playing a great game."
"I'm happy with our match, we put in the right aggression from the first to the last minute and the result came accordingly - commented captain, Sara Gama -. Roma are a great team, we made the difference with determination, showing great maturity. We are happy with the return of Barbara Bonansea and in general it's good that even the substitutes take the field with the same desire to win."
"We played a great game. It wasn't obvious, because it's not easy to win away in Rome - said Barbara Bonansea -. After the draw against Milan we wanted to give a response and we did it. We always want to improve and take a step forward, winning today was important and now we can think about the next match against Fiorentina. I missed the pitch and I'm very happy to be back."
