20 February 2011

Bianconeri stopped in Lecce

Luigi Del Neri opted for the same side that performed so admirably against Inter. Luca Toni continued up front alongside Alessandro Matri and Frederik Sorensen kept his place at right-back following last Sunday’s impressive shut out of Samuel Eto’o. Armand Traore returned to the bench, his first appearance in the match day squad since sustaining an injury against Sampdoria.

The Bianconeri would have fancied their chances of making it three wins out of three, against a side who had shipped plenty of goals in recent times. However any game plan was thrown out of the window in the 12th minute, when a long ball forward found Di Michele one on one with Buffon. Juve’s goalkeeper scampered out to block the effort, but he was caught handling outside the area, giving referee Mazzoleni no option. Buffon red carded, Juventus down to ten. Serbian winger Milos Krasic found himself sacrificed and play restarted with Marco Storari between the posts.

The sending off seemed to give the hosts more belief and things got worse for Juve in the 32nd minute. The previously robust Bianconeri rearguard appeared to be panicked by a clipped ball forward, Djamel Mesbah was on hand to evade the offside trap and slide the ball past Storari. The hosts remained a threat on the counter as Juve sought to get back into the game. Marchisio was a bright spark in an indifferent first half, toiling to provide a link between midfield and attack. Toni made his presence felt up front, and Matri frequently moved over to the left hand side to support Chiellini. It was the left-back who created Juve’s best opportunity to restore party in the 42nd minute. His low cross found Aquilani unmarked in the area, but the midfielder failed to direct his left footed effort on goal.

Alessandro Del Piero was introduced at the start of the second half to provide a link between midfield and attack. Three minutes from the restart, Lecce were two up. Another looping delivery in the box caught the Bianconeri flat footed and Di Michele headed across for Bertolacci to fire the ball home. As Juve pushed forward in search of a recovery, they were almost caught again, but Storari made a fine save from Grossmuller’s close range attempt. There was to be more danger in the 11th minute of the second half, but Grossmuller thrashed an opportunity wide. The Juventus manager went for broke by throwing Iaquinta on for Sorensen to give the attack more bite. Soon after, the visitors gained a glimmer of hope as Vives was dismissed for his second booking; leaving it ten against ten.

Iaquinta worked hard up front to unsettle the hosts with his physical presence and Juve’s best opportunity of salvaging something almost fell to him. Del Piero’s free kick in the 38th minute of the second period was touched on by Felipe Melo, with Iaquinta almost getting the vital touch that would have paved the way for a thrilling finale. But it was not to be, a scrappy second half, littered with free kicks came to an end following three minutes of added time.

An important victory for Lecce, who climb away from the relegation zone. Back to the drawing board for the Bianconeri who will now have to look to their next encounter, at home to Bologna next Saturday.

LECCE-JUVENTUS 2-0

GOALS: Mesbah 32’ 1st half, Bertolacci 3’ 2nd half

LECCE: Rosati; Donati, Fabiano, Ferrario, Brivio; Vives; Munari, Bertolacci (46’ 2nd half Coppola), Grossmuller, Mesbah (41’ 2nd half Rispoli); Di Michele (8’ 2nd half. Chevanton).
Substitutes not used: Benassi, Sini, Corvia, Piatti.
Manager: De Canio

JUVENTUS: Buffon; Sorensen (14’ 2nd half Iaquinta), Bonucci, Barzagli, Chiellini; Krasic (12’ 1st half. Storari), Aquilani, F. Melo, Marchisio; Matri, Toni (1’ 2nd half Del Piero). Substitutes not used: Grygera, Traore, Salihamidzic, Martinez. Manager: Del Neri

REFEREE: Silvio Mazzoleni from Bergamo
BOOKINGS: 22’ 2nd half. Vives, 24’ 2nd half Vives
SENT OFF: 12’ 1st half. Buffon, 24’ 2nd half Vives