A display of cold-blooded finishing saw Juventus beat an injury crisis-torn Roma 4-1 at the Stadio Olimpico with goals from Vincenzo Iaquinta, who scored a brace, Olof Mellberg and Pavel Nedved.
Roma hosted Juventus tonight at the Stadio Olimpico in what is always a heated Serie A fixture. Juve needed a win to keep their Scudetto challenge alive, while Roma needed the points to continue aiming for the fourth place.
The home side had their two most representative players, captain Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi, out injured, so Mirko Vucinic played alone up front in a 4-2-3-1 system with Max Tonetto, Julio Baptista, and Jeremy Menez in support. Meanwhile, Juve played in their usual 4-4-2 formation with Vincenzo Iaquinta and captain Alessandro Del Piero in attack.
First Half
Both teams made a cautious start to the match, and there were precious few chances in the opening stages.
The first opening came in the 14th minute, when Sebastian Giovinco found Iaquinta in the area, and the striker tried to play it to Hasan Salihamidzic, but the Roma defence managed to clear the ball away.
Juve got their first scare four minutes later, when Zdenek Grygera saw John Arne Riise go past him on the left, and the Norwegian full back played it back to Tonetto, who fired a shot from inside the area, but the Bianconeri’s defence managed to block it.
In the 28th minute Iaquinta sent in a dangerous cross aimed for Del Piero’s head, which took a strange trajectory before hitting the crossbar and going out.
Six minutes later though, the visitors did take the lead thanks to Iaquinta, who controlled the ball from a superb pass by Giovinco and beat Alexandre Doni from inside the area with a low shot toward the far post.
Not much happened in the remainder of the first half, which was quite an uneventful affair.
Second Half
The second half started with no changes to either team.
Roma started in determined mood, and had the equaliser with their first real chance. In the 48th minute, Menez sent in a corner and found defender Simone Loria unmarked in the area, and he had no problems beating Gianluigi Buffon with a left-footed shot from inside the area.
However, it did not take long for Juve to react, and on the next opportunity they struck again. A cross from the right by Grygera was deflected by Riise and found Iaquinta, who scored his second of the night with a header from close range in the 55th minute.
Iaquinta could even had had a third seven minutes later, as he found himself alone in front of Doni on a counterattack, but he couldn’t find his feet and so passed it back to Del Piero, who looked certain to score, and only a great last-gasp clearance by Riise kept Roma in the game.
The visitors did find a deserved third goal in the 68th minute, when defender Olof Mellberg was found unmarked in the area on a corner kick and powered home a header that left Doni without a chance.
The knockout punch was delivered six minutes later by substitute Pavel Nedved, as the Czech star fired a wonderful left-footed volley from outside the area that found the net after Christian Panucci headed the ball. This fourth goal was perhaps a tad too much on Roma considering the way the match went.
The home side had a final chance in the 88th minute through substitute Marco D’Alessandro, one of the many youth players drafted into the squad by coach Luciano Spalletti for this match, but in a one-on-one situation he lacked the coolness to get it past Buffon.
All in all it was a deserved victory for Juve, while for Roma it was perhaps inevitable that they would struggle with so many injuries and suspensions. This result will certainly put some pressure on leaders Inter, who are now just four points ahead of Claudio Ranieri’s side, while Roma will hope Genoa and Fiorentina slip up tomorrow to avoid moving too far away from fourth place.
Teams
Roma (4-2-3-1): Doni; Panucci, Mexes, Loria (63’ Montella), Riise; Filipe, Brighi; Tonetto, Baptista, Menez (81’ D’Alessandro); Vucinic (92’ Stojan). Coach: Spalletti.
Juventus (4-4-2): Buffon; Grygera, Mellberg, Chiellini, Molinaro; Salihamidzic, Tiago (70’ Nedved), Poulsen, Giovinco (72’ Marchionni); Iaquinta, Del Piero. Coach: Ranieri.
Goals: 34’ Iaquinta (J), 48’ Loria (R), 55’ Iaquinta (J), 68’ Mellberg (J), 74’ Nedved (J)
Booked: Mexes, Loria, Riise, Menez (R); Molinaro, Tiago (J)
On-form Juventus player Sebastian Giovinco has been named in Casiraghi’s squad for the friendly against the Netherlands in Kerkrade. Giovinco, who has represented Italy at every youth level from under-16s upwards, has made 24 appearances and scored 3 goals for the team.
The young Sebastian Giovinco has shown great personality and has been in constant crescendo in the last matches showing a great form:
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