Juventus Suffer Shock Loss In First Game Without Ronaldo
29 August, 2021
Juventus suffered a shock defeat to newly-promoted Empoli in their first game since departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Serie A
Result: Juventus 0-1 Empoli
Date: 28 August 2021
Venue: Allianz Stadium
With CRonaldo leaving for a return to Manchester United, the home side’s attack featured Federico Chiesa and Paulo Dybala in the aftermath of squandering a two-goal lead at Udinese.
Chiesa very nearly issued Juventus the lead on three minutes from a move on the near side of the area following a pacey run off a ball into space, but his effort was smothered.
The Old Lady’s momentum didn’t drop a little later and should’ve been ahead through a fine solo run followed by a rasping strike by Chiesa, but goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario had other ideas.
Juventus were punished for their inaccurate displays up front midway following the first spell as Leonardo Mancuso pounced on a loose ball from a scramble in the area to tuck home.
Uncertainty on all fronts from the host continued to show a minute from the break with Chiesa nearly finding his own net with a looping header in the area.
A substitution from Juventus at the restart saw Weston McKennie sacrificed for Spaniard Alvaro Morata, whilst Empoli worked goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny thoroughly with numerous attempts.
More frustrations grew from the host minutes in with shots close to goal from Dybala failing to trouble their opposite number Vicario.
Empoli continued to adopt bodies behind the ball in the closing quarter, as Juve applied wave and wave of attacks through in particular Dybala and substitute Dejan Kulusevski.
The Old Lady threw one final attack in added time with Manuel Locatelli’s snap shot in the area flying across goal, as Empoli claimed a famous victory.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za