Saturday, 29 November 2008
Juventus Four Goals Thriller Againts Regina !
Juventus welcomed a Reggina side coming off two consecutive victories against Udinese and Atalanta hoping to bounce back immediately from their 1-0 defeat to Inter last week. Coach Claudio Ranieri played with his usual 4-4-2 formation with captain Alessandro Del Piero and Amauri up front, while Reggina’s Nevio Orlandi opted for a 4-4-1-1 system with Franco Brienza behind Francesco Cozza in attack.
First Half
The rain was pouring down at the Stadio Olimpico of Turin, but the home side nevertheless showed their intentions from the start as they tried to take control of the match. Just five minutes in, there was some bad news for Mauro Camoranesi again, as he fell badly on his shoulder and looked like he might need to be substituted, but in the end he managed to stay on.
In the 13th minute, the Italian international nevertheless fashioned the first opening for the home side, as he skipped to the byline and played the ball back to Del Piero, who appeared to be taken down in the area, but the referee waved away calls for a penalty.
The first chance came in the 19th minute, when defender Giorgio Chiellini hit a towering header on a Camoranesi corner kick, which went just wide of the post.
In the 26th minute, Del Piero had a chance to score another free kick as he was fouled about 30 meters from the goal by defender Carlos Valdez. The captain stepped up to take it, and again it was a dangerous effort that frightened goalkeeper Andrea Campagnolo, who could only parry the ball away.
Three minutes later, a moment of genius from the Juve captain allowed the Bianconeri to open the score. With a lovely back-heel he found Pavel Nedved on the left side of the area, and the Czech star played it back to the unmarked Camoranesi, who who smashed the ball into the roof of the net from close range (29’).
Reggina almost found an immediate equaliser four minutes later, as Santos connected with a cross by Cozza but fired his shot against the crossbar.
Aside from this big chance, Juve continued to dominate the first half, and in the 41st minute Nedved could easily have made it 2-0, as the ball found its way to him thanks to a dummy by Del Piero, but on his shot Campagnolo brilliantly managed to tip the ball away for a corner.
A minute before half time, Ranieri’s side deservedly did make it 2-0, as a Camoranesi cross from the right found its way to Amauri, who managed to slide the ball in just as he seemed to lose his balance (44’).
Second Half
At half time, Ranieri predictably substituted Camoranesi, who had been unable to shrug off his shoulder pains in the first half, and brought on Marco Marchionni.
By the end of the first half the rain had turned into snow, and it was the same in the second half, which made it more difficult for the teams to play fluent football. Nevertheless, it was Juventus who continued to attack as they did not look satisfied or complacent after going 2-0 up in the first half.
After a somewhat uneventful first quarter of an hour, the dominant home side added to their tally as Chiellini headed the ball in from close range on a free kick by Cristian Molinaro to make it 3-0 in the 62nd minute.
The match was completely over as a contest by this point, and the continuously pouring snow did not help the entertainment value much either.
Twenty minutes before the end, Ranieri decided to finally bring on starlet Sebastian Giovinco for Claudio Marchisio, and the youngster quickly left his mark on the game as he won a penalty just minutes after coming on as he was fouled by Bruno Cirillo. Captain Del Piero stepped up to take the spot-kick, and easily beat Campagnolo with a hard shot through the middle (74’).
In the final part of the game, with the pitch becoming heavier and heavier, and the ball becoming more and more difficult to see on the snow-covered pitch, it became increasingly difficult for the teams to keep the match interesting, as both sides struggled to create chances.
Juve were more than happy to hold on to their highly comfortable lead, and the match finished without any further emotions. The victory takes them to second place on 27 points, along with Milan, who take on Palermo tomorrow evening.
JUVENTUS-REGGINA 4-0
GOALS: 29’ Camoranesi, 44’ Amauri, 62’ Chiellini, 74' Del Piero (pen.)
Juventus (4-4-2): Manninger; Grygera, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro; Camoranesi (46’ Marchionni), Sissoko, Marchisio (70’ Giovinco), Nedved; Amauri (76’ Iaquinta), Del Piero. Coach: Ranieri.
Reggina (4-4-1-1): Campagnolo; Cirillo, Valdez, Santos, Costa; Alvarez (50’ Corradi), Barreto, Carmona (58’ Tognozzi), Barillá; Brienza; Cozza (82’ Di Gennaro). Coach: Orlandi.
REFEREE: Damato
BOOKED: Camoranesi (J); Valdez, Cozza, Santos (R)
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