Cagliari-Juventus 2-2, Juventus comeback and Allegri stays afloat

Cagliari and Juventus drew 2-2 in the match played today for the 33rd matchday of Serie A. The Bianconeri coached by Allegri, down 2-0 in the first half due to 2 penalties, recovered in the second half. Juve rises to 64 points in third place. Ranieri’s Cagliari rises to 32 points and stays away from the relegation zone.

The match

Juve’s evening opens with a nightmare start. Cagliari dominates from the first minute against opponents who are not on the pitch. 100 seconds pass and the Sardinians show up with the percussion of Luvumbo, who finishes high. In the 6th minute, in the rossoblu area Alcaraz is hit on the head by an elbow from Minawho jumps in a disorderly manner: the Juventus midfielder gets up with a cut and loses blood, according to the referee Piccinini and the VAR nothing happened.

Cagliari starts to press again and in the 8th minute they come close to scoring with Shomurodov, who misses the target from a corner. In the 27th minute a miracle was needed from Szczesny, who denied Luvumbo the goal with his foot. In the 29th minute Juve collapses. On Dossena’s header, Bremer touches it with his hand: Piccinini with the help of the VAR awards the penalty, Gaetano makes no mistake from the spot and scores the 1-0.

Juve is a sparring partner that leaves no trace and Cagliari concedes an encore in the 35th minute. Szczesny knocks out Luvumbo, another penalty: Mina converts, 2-0. Signals from Juve before the break with an action that leads to Vlahovic’s goal: all in vain due to Chiesa’s offside.

The second half offers a partially different script. Cagliari, after having spent a lot in the first half, has to lower the pace and Juve, who also continues to show a ‘revisable’ game, seems intent on taking part in the match. In the 61st minute, out of nowhere, the Juventus goal. Vlahovic hits a free kick with his left foot from a position more favorable to a right-footed player: 2-1. Juve would have half an hour to straighten out the evening, Allegri also throws Milik into the mix to increase the offensive weight. The Bianconeri pressed in a confused but effective manner. In the 87th minute Yildiz’s cross triggers Dossena’s own goal: 2-2.

Allegri: “In the first half we didn’t understand the match”

“In the first half we absolutely didn’t understand the match” and “we made a lot of technical mistakes”, Allegri told Dazn after the match. “The whole team wasn’t up to par in the first half”, adds Allegri, explaining that in the first part of the match “we lost all the balls we could have lost, we didn’t understand the game. We had to attack the depth. We were better in second half”.

On Tuesday, Juve returns to the field for the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final: “We have the possibility of reaching the final” of the Italian Cup after the Bianconeri’s victory in the first leg against Lazio 2-0 in Turin and therefore “we will have to make a great match”. “We had a direct clash with Milan for second place. We’re trying to play a different game in Rome against Lazio.”