Paulo Dybala scored a wonderful goal, but Genoa completed a dramatic comeback with Domenico Criscito this time in tears of joy for a last-gasp penalty.
The Bianconeri were already guaranteed a top four finish, but didn’t rotate the squad too much ahead of Wednesday’s Coppa Italia Final against Inter. Juan Cuadrado and Mattia De Sciglio returned, with Danilo and Luca Pellegrini joining long-term absentees Manuel Locatelli, Weston McKennie, Federico Chiesa and Kaio Jorge, so 18-year-old Fabio Miretti started his second game in midfield. Genoa were desperate after the defeat to Sampdoria left them four points from safety, with Nikola Maksimovic and Zinho Vanheusden not fully fit.
Moise Kean wasted a huge chance in the opening minutes, nodding over from a Paulo Dybala cross at the back post.
Mattia Destro also turned a header over from a Pablo Galdames corner, while Salvatore Sirigu got his fingertips to a Kean pull-back for Dusan Vlahovic.
Leonardo Bonucci charged down Filippo Melegoni’s attempt and Dybala tested Sirigu from distance, as did Manolo Portanova on Wojciech Szczesny with a scorcher.
Straight after the restart, Destro ballooned over when relatively undisturbed from eight yards, but Juventus did take their chance moments later.
Dybala gathered just outside the D and unleashed a wonderful curling finish with his weaker right foot into the far bottom corner, dipping just beyond Sirigu’s fingertips.
Szczesny had to readjust after a poor Kean back-pass and deal with a Frendrup strike, but Dybala almost had a second when curling with his left foot from a similar position to the goal, this time finding the base of the upright.
Vlahovic rode two tackles to force a save at the near post, while Kean had the ball in the net only after he was flagged offside.
Caleb Ekuban’s header whistled wide, but Genoa breathed a sigh of relief when the referee awarded a penalty on 84 minutes, only to change his mind after a VAR on-field review, seeing Albert Gudmundsson got the ball before Marley Ake.
It proved decisive, because moments later Gudmundsson equalised for Genoa. It was a divinely weighted through ball from Nadiem Amiri and he kept his cool for the angled drive past Szczesny.
It should’ve been 2-1 for Genoa a minute after that, Juve giving it away cheaply only for Amiri to fire straight at Szczesny from nine yards. Amiri also saw a shot charged down by Denis Zakaria.
Kean was limping badly when Alvaro Morata went on the counter and rolled it across for the young striker to incredibly fire wide of an open goal.
That again proved decisive, because moments later Mattia De Sciglio brought down Kelvin Yeboah for a penalty. Criscito had been left in floods of tears just days earlier when his last-gasp penalty was saved against Sampdoria. However, the veteran immediately stepped up and converted with the last kick of the game into the bottom corner, this time left with tears of joy as his teammates surrounded him.
Genoa are still alive and Criscito went from zero to hero.
Genoa 2-1 Juventus
Dybala 48 (J), Gudmundsson 87 (G), Criscito pen 96 (G)
What the hell has happened to kean
Vlaflopic!
Kean is the worst. Immediately followed by De Sciglio. Hard to watch these mediocre players who aren’t worthy of the shirt.
😂 😂 😂. Nedved wants Moise to score 25 goals, my butt he could not even score an open goal as shown against Genoa. So now Juve want play offs to avoid having to do the hard work and actually win the league based on merit. I think this formula has been done in the CL and look at where it has got them. I kept telling the Juve fans not to give PhD the benefit of the doubt. This was Genoa for the love of god and the Legend of 1Mbps movement was still clinging on to the Medieval Ball. Not to worry @Debunked the clown and his fellow girl band PhD pantyhose cheerleaders will say we were missing players and it was Genoa. Inter will demolish them in the Coppa after seeing the spirit to come back tonight. Shout out to Rabiot for a nice set up and Arthur for being fully ruined by the back, back, down, down.
Before anyone here comes to support of Allegri, please take a minute to check his squad and then compare vs Genoa‘s. There is ABSOLUTELY zero logic in supporting the joker. Everyone should be held accountable.
Cannot argue against @Lord today. Vlahovic has never gone 3 games without scoring this season and guess who is his trainer. Another record for all the wrong reasons.
I know it’s a meaningless game for Juve but still! Kean is just a joke! Rabiot and De Sciglio are horrendous . Dybala was the best player and he’s leaving! Future looks gloomier for Juve.
With 2 times to UCL final, Allegry is still the best. Keep saying this until other teams win title in the next 10 consecutive years.
#Allegriout, he is worse than pirlo. His previous final UCL was over, he is worse now. How can management being so nlind to see the truth????
I’m not allowed to comment.
I always get behind the team and reluctantly supported Sarri, but this is done for me. Allegri cannot make excuses for what happened tonight. The attitude is all wrong. Just because we secured top 4 this does not mean we let up. This is the problem that has plagued Allegri for years, not able to keep the team grounded and focused. If this was against a top team then fine but Genoa is a new low and we were in total control of the game and yet it blows up in 5 seconds.
When your attackers miss empty nets, how is that Allegri’s fault? These guys are not fit to wear the shirt.
I always try not to get worried when we lose but it’s really hard. So Dybala is leaving us and Allegri gets to stay. This is terrible. I’m concerned about Vlahovic now.
It’s hard to blame Allegri for today, the team should have had three or four goals and they completely misfired in front of goal; story of the damn season.
The same here Gamal
@Fatecisognare you are absolutely correct in the first part, but come on the team looks so disjointed and Allegri’s football or lack of it is just so predictable, one dimensional and at a pace not fit for 2022.
@Fate, it’s Allegri’s fault because he didn’t take him off earlier and instead removed Dybala & Vlahovic who have a far better scoring record than Kean.
@Mikeysteel, when you start playing defensive with 30 mins left and you are only 1 nil up, it says a lot about your coaching style. I’ve watched the last two games and I’ve never been so disappointed. He needs to go or we won’t get anywhere next season.
Great match from Miretti! He is the future of Juventus.
I am starting to realized that Nedved is the resl problem here. He should resign.
Juventus needs more crossers and attacking midfielders who can provide Vlahovic the oportunities to score more goals.
Cris are you smoking crack?
You seemed to think that you have solved the puzzle but the wrecking ball to this operation is Allegri. Wingers, attacking midfielders and more crosses is not exactly required when facing a relegation battling team like Genoa. Even if we got them, I do not trust Allegri to use them accordingly. Kulusevski was too scared to cross, run and take people on. A change of scenery and he seems to be fulfilling some potential that was expected of him as a young player. A different coach can do wonders for the health.
mikey denial is the worst part. You cannot ever get better unless you realise reality and what is staring you in the face. Allegri is a good coach and certainly not mediocre but he is clearly not at the top anymore and the style is outdated period. Mourinho is another example of someone with an outdated formula and no the conference league does not put him into the upper echelons.
I really would like to know how many fans Juve lost since Allegri took over. The players Juve has should not lose to Genoa. I have been a Juventus fan since 1994 trying never to miss a match. Now I would rather watch the premiere league games. I still would like Juve to return to old glory, but really can’t cheer on such a terrible team with such a terrible style of coaching
@Alex
I been a fan since 1990 to and this year honestly I won’t bother wasting my time watching this boring boring possible loosing team
I did not watch the game again last night just logged on to see the score
I’m sorry but how can anyone compare this bus driver to Pirlo????? Pirlo had zero experience and still finished 4th with 2 trophies. Give the guy a break he did well in his first managerial job at a big club.
I dread to see what will happen against Inter in the final. Vlahovic was clearly not impressed for being substituted, he hardly gets a run out with this defensive set up, half the time he just stands about so even if he played another game before the final on Wednesday he would still be fresh. Clearly Allegri will not be sacked even if season ends without a trophy. Sacked Sarri for winning the league, sacked Pirlo for winning 2 Cup finals, keep Allegri even if the season finishes without any silverware. Bravo Juventus board of directors bravo.
Pirlo’s Juve was just as bad as this one but at least he had Ronaldo’s 30+ goals. Barely scraped into the CL whereas at least this time we did it with games to spare. Other than Sarri, who was a nightmare, this isn’t the fault of Pirlo or Allegri but of Agnelli and Paratici. Now their mess is being cleared up slowly. Juve need a few more years to rebuild. Thankfully all the other teams in A are really poor so just a bit of consistency is enough to win this league.