Match Recap: Juventus vs. Atalanta
This past weekend was filled with a good number of competitive matches, but the match of the week has to go to Juventus versus Atalanta. This match had major standing implications because if Atalanta won it would put them in 2nd place in Serie A.
To start the game there was an early opportunity for Juve at the 2 minute mark thanks to some skillful dribbling up the right side of the pitch by Paulo Dybala which didn’t come to fruition Not long after that Federico Bernardeschi received a yellow card in the 10th minute for what looked like a legal challenge but upon seeing the replay it was clear he clipped the Atalanta player in the process. In the 16th minute there was some beautiful build up play between Papu Gomez and Duvan Zapata. Papu then sent a perfectly timed through ball to Zupata into the middle of the box in traffic who finishes it with a pinpoint low strike into the bottom right corner. Later on Juan Cuadrado gets
booked in the 29th minute for a late challenge on Duvan Zapata.
All in all Atalanta looked the more dangerous of the two sides for most of the 1st half with Juventus only managing a few scoring chances.
To start the 2nd half Juve earned a penalty in the 53rd minute for a handball on Martin De Roon. A minute later at the 54th minute mark, Cristiano Ronaldo smashes it to the left side of the goal to make it 1-1.
In the 60th minute Atalanta’s Mario Pasalic received a yellow card. Ruslan Malinovskyi who was just subbed minutes earlier scores in the 80th minute on a snipe to the near post to make it 2-1. The trend of bookings continued in the 87th minute when Hans Hateboer commits a
hard foul and receives a yellow card for his transgressions. Luck must have been on Juve’s side that day because in the 88th minute another penalty for a handball was called on Luis Muriel. On that penalty, Ronaldo equalizes for the 2nd time to the bottom left corner with a perfectly placed penalty to make it 2-2.
This game ended in a 2-2 draw, but it was one of the more exciting draws you will see in football. Looking forward to a lot of games next week that have the potential to be major upsets.
Until then, continue to be safe and enjoy some football.
