Roma threw away a 3-1 lead with 20 minutes to go and saw a Lorenzo Pellegrini penalty saved, as Juventus completed an incredible 4-3 comeback win despite the Matthijs de Ligt red card.
The Giallorossi had Rick Karsdorp and Gianluca Mancini suspended, plus Leonardo Spinazzola and Stephan El Shaarawy injured, Amadou Diawara and Ebrima Darboe on international duty, while Nicolò Zaniolo tested positive for COVID-19. Ainsley Maitland-Niles was therefore thrown straight into the starting XI just 24 hours after his loan move from Arsenal, with Felix Afena-Gyan getting his first start. The Bianconeri had coach Max Allegri suspended, with Leonardo Bonucci, Alex Sandro, Danilo and Aaron Ramsey injured, while Giorgio Chiellini returned to the bench after COVID.
It was an aggressive start from the hosts, Wojciech Szczesny smothering a Tammy Abraham header and after a series of corners, the pressure paid off. Jordan Veretout curled it onto the head of Abraham, who was left totally unmarked from four yards.
Roma had penalty appeals soon after, as Lorenzo Pellegrini’s shot bounced off Matthijs de Ligt’s foot and onto his hand, which made it unintentional.
At the first genuine attack, Juventus equalised, as Federico Chiesa shook off Maitland-Niles to roll across from the left, where Paulo Dybala controlled with his right and curled left-footed into the far top corner from the edge of the box.
Chiesa hurt his knee during a desperate and well-timed Chris Smalling tackle and after several minutes of hobbling, eventually had to be replaced by Dejan Kulusevski.
The Swede’s header went wide from a Mattia De Sciglio cross, but there was another huge Roma chance with the last kick of the half. A corner found Smalling’s header and this time Abraham redirected it over the bar from point-blank range with his knee.
Juan Cuadrado was booked and will be suspended for the Supercoppa Italiana against Inter next week.
It got worse for Juve, because Roma restored their advantage straight after the restart with a stroke of luck, as Henrikh Mkitaryan’s strike took a massive deflection off Mattia De Sciglio and looped over the helpless Szczesny into the net.
There was nothing flukey about the third goal, as it was a magnificent Pellegrini free kick into the near top corner, giving Szczesny no chance.
Alvaro Morata came off the bench and immediately provided an assist, skinning Roger Ibanez down the right and floating a cross onto the head of Manuel Locatelli for 3-2.
Incredibly, the drama just cranked up when Kulusevski fired in after a rebound and the offside flag went up, but after a very long VAR check, the news came through that it was indeed a goal, as when Cuadrado nodded it down, Morata was behind the line of the ball.
Moments later, Juventus went 4-3 up when a poor Smalling defensive header fell kindly, Mattia De Sciglio chested it down and drilled into the near bottom corner from eight yards.
VAR got involved again, as De Ligt blocked an Abraham volley with his arm and although it was from point-blank range, he did move his arm out from the body to meet it. This also represented De Ligt’s second yellow card and he was sent off, meaning he too is suspended for the Supercoppa.
Pellegrini stepped up, but after his magnificent free kick earlier, he hit a weak spot-kick that Wojciech Szczesny parried, then slipped on the rebound.
Pellegrini had to go off after a clash of heads with Giorgio Chiellini, then a deflected Carles Perez effort skimmed the upright and Szczesny fingertipped the ball off the feet of Abraham in the box.
Roma 3-4 Juventus
Abraham 11 (R), Dybala 18 (J), Mkhitaryan 48 (R), Pellegrini 53 (R), Locatelli 70 (J), Kulusevski 74 (J), De Sciglio 77 (J)
Sent off: De Ligt 81 (J)
Saved penalty: Pellegrini 83 (R)
Roma will always be Roma,they won’t change
So Roma can’t blame the referee today?
Keep Allegri in the stands !
I think the biggest problem with this Juve is their mentality. We have too many weak minded players who keep making the wrong decisions. Today after going 3-1, everyone felt the pressure to step up and they did so with a pure Juve spirit. I got to compliment Locatelli, Artur, and Morata. Locatelli played his heart out today, he is clearly developing into the leader we need in midfield. Artur and Morata did fantastic once coming on. This is the Morata I want to see on a consistent basis. I always said that Artur needs to be in the midfield with Locatelli. Bentancur cant keep the ball for his life. I also got to say that this comeback was possible because Roma got to laid back and thought the game was over. My main point is, if we can build confidence with this win then we can definitely challenge the first 4 and build some momentum. I also got to say this was one of the best Juve comebacks I have seen in the recent years. Forza Juve!!!!!!
What a game
We should not be happy with this at all. I would rather have my 1-0 and be in control then see this cliff hanger. Yes we showed grinta, but for 70 minutes we were horrendous as was to be expected. Roma had no Zaniolo, Karsdorp and Mancini and played with a make shift defence, yet we posed no threat. Maitland-Niles has not played for ages, is an Arsenal cast away and was making us look foolish. Allegri is not escaping as I am getting tired of all blame being put on the players. We know Bentancur is rubbish but again chopping and changing the formation will lead to no consistency. McKennie was playing on the left for god sake. Zonal marking on corners is a disaster and we still game Smalling a free header. Nothing learnt and this is down to Allegri’s philosophy. Playing keen as a lone striker does not play to his strengths. He is not a player that can hold the ball up nor keep it, same goes for Morata who spends more time on the ground. The only reason we got away with it is down to Roma being Roma. Even on the counter attack we only have 2 men up front, 60 yards from the goal and nobody running to support. That is Allegri’s philosophy to sit too deep. No wonder why we do not score goals. Against a CL side or Inter next week we are going to be torn apart. As for people not caring about the Super Cup and happy Cuadrado and Chiesa are getting a rest, I say shame on those fans. I never want to lose or not care about a game against Inter. Pride is pride and we must not lower our standards. As for De Ligt, it was not his fault but to be honest he has this kind of mistake in him and displayed it in every campaign. I would take the money whilst he is still a hot commodity and get a young Italian prospect in. I think he knows the interest in other clubs and Raiola is already singing in his ears.
Uncle Z you are a bit harsh on De Ligt. These are split second reactions and the reason why he has been involved in a few handball incidents (mainly in his first season) is because he is the only player, along with Chiellini actually willing to put his body on the line to block shots.
As for the rest of your points I agree with you – had it been a better side than Roma we would not have been in any position to win the game and that’s down to Allegri’s weak tactics. Nonetheless, it was heartening to see the team fight hard in the last 30 minutes and I actually saw a Morata and an Arthur who played for the shirt today. Locatelli and McKennie were also excellent. Bentancur has no business starting games – twice he lost the ball with his inept twisting and turning.
I think it’s clear to see that Arthur and Locatelli should always be paired together on the pitch. No more Bentancur or Rabiot in our starting eleven! I swear i play better as a midfielder than those two clowns.
Bentancur wasn’t great but is twice the player McKennie is. He looks lost in every game