Cristiano Ronaldo’s late towering header cancelled out the Sasa Lukic opener, avoiding the first Torino Derby win away to Juventus since 1995.
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Cristiano Ronaldo’s late towering header cancelled out the Sasa Lukic opener, avoiding the first Torino Derby win away to Juventus since 1995.
Follow all the action as it happens and give your views on the LIVEBLOG.
The Derby della Mole is always a big occasion, but although Juve had already clinched their eighth consecutive Scudetto, Toro had plenty of motivation. They were in sixth place, only three points behind Atalanta and that fourth Champions League berth after a victory over Milan last week.
Emre Can, Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic, Alex Sandro, Rodrigo Bentancur, Douglas Costa, Daniele Rugani, Sami Khedira and Mattia Perin were all injured, while Toro missed Iago Falque, Vittorio Parigini and suspended Emiliano Moretti. Brazilian defender Bremer was given his first Serie A start in a high-pressure situation.
Torino won only one of their last 25 Serie A meetings with Juve, 2-1 in April 2015, along with five draws and 19 defeats.
Their last Derby della Mole success as the ‘away’ side was back in 1995 thanks to a Ruggiero Rizzitelli brace, followed by three stalemates and nine losses.
Salvatore Sirigu rushed out to push a dangerous long ball away from Cristiano Ronaldo, but Wojciech Szczesny had his gloves stung by Andrea Belotti on an Alex Berenguer through ball.
It was Toro who broke the deadlock, as Sasa Lukic caught Miralem Pjanic napping on a throw-in and curled his right-foot finish into the far top corner for his first goal in the Granata jersey.
Juventus fought back, Blaise Matuidi’s volley stinging Sirigu’s gloves and Cristiano Ronaldo drilled inches wide, but Alex Berenguer blasted over after skipping away from Pjanic.
After the restart, Cristiano Ronaldo mistimed his jump on a corner and knocked it over with his shoulder, while Spinazzola scuffed his finish wide after a promising run.
Juve began to knock at the door with a series of crosses, mostly from the left, and Bremer made a key sliding tackle on Ronaldo. At the other end, Belotti only skimmed the ball put in by Lukic from the tightest of angles, as he had got in front of Leonardo Bonucci.
Kean managed to turn his marker to test Sirigu at the near post, but Ola Aina came off the bench and within 20 seconds had surged past several Juve players to blast over the bar.
With six minutes left on the clock, Juventus finally got their equaliser when Spinazzola floated a cross to Cristiano Ronaldo, who got away from Bremer and hung in the air for what felt like an eternity to nod in. Ronaldo had also scored the winner in the Derby della Mole earlier this season and this was his 21st Serie A goal of the season.
Juventus 1-1 Torino
Lukic 18 (T), Ronaldo 84 (J)
Juventus: Szczesny; Cancelo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Spinazzola; Cuadrado (Matheus Pereira 78), Pjanic, Matuidi, Bernardeschi (De Sciglio 85); Ronaldo, Kean
Torino: Sirigu; Izzo, Nkoulou, Bremer; De Silvestri (Zaza 89), Meite, Rincon, Lukic (Aina 78), Ansaldi; Berenguer (Baselli 70), Belotti
Ref: Orsato