Gleison Bremer cancelled out the Romelu Lukaku opener in a spectacular match with numerous chances at both ends, but Juventus will feel happier with a point than Roma.
This was a head-to-head for the Champions League places, separated by eight points going into the Stadio Olimpico, with Juve knowing a victory here would guarantee their spot. The Giallorossi were smarting from Thursday’s 2-0 Europa League defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, but Paulo Dybala and Leandro Paredes faced their former club in a new 4-3-2-1 formation. Kenan Yildiz and Alex Sandro didn’t make the trip, as Juve had won only two of their last 13 Serie A matches.
Federico Chiesa immediately cut inside to curl just over with his right foot, then set up Dusan Vlahovic to drill inches wide of the upright, but the hosts went even closer when a Rasmus Kristensen looping header bounced off the crossbar.
The long periods of Roma pressure paid off when Dybala pulled back for Bryan Cristante, his shot was cleared off the line by Federico Gatti, but only into the path of Lukaku to tap in the rebound.
Lorenzo Pellegrini’s curler was deflected, but Juventus equalised when a corner was not cleared effectively, Chiesa first managed to keep it in play with a sensational first touch, then bent a cross onto the head of Bremer, as the defender towered above the crowd.
Dybala saw two free kicks fly just over the bar and Manuel Locatelli nodded off target from Weston McKennie’s assist, but La Joya went off at half-time with a fitness issue.
Chiesa almost turned it around within 60 seconds of the restart, as his left-foot screamer smashed against the inside of the far Roma post, bounced across the face of goal and back out.
Timothy Weah risked a second yellow card for sliding into Leandro Paredes and was immediately substituted by Filip Kostic.
Chiesa and Adrien Rabiot both stung Svilar’s gloves, while Lorenzo Pellegrini had a shot deflected into the arms of Wojciech Szczesny and another turned inches wide by Bremer’s block on the Baldanzi assist.
A chaotic Roma corner eventually fell to Kristensen on the half-volley, it beat Szczesny only for Danilo to perform a desperate goal-line clearance on 69 minutes.
Manuel Locatelli slipped while pouncing on a loose ball, giving the shot an odd loop, forcing Svilar to fingertip it out from under the crossbar.
Svilar also made a flying reaction save on the Moise Kean header from a corner, while in stoppages Szczesny had to make himself big in a one-on-one with Tammy Abraham to prevent the Roma winner.
Source – Serie A | Roma 1-1 Juventus: Breathtaking battle for Europe (football-italia.net)
