Chapter 278: The Second Derby (Part II) (Third Update)
Although the gap between the two sides on the field is not too big, and both teams are still a long way from scoring, Li Mudi is not very satisfied with the performance of his players.
Even when playing away from home, the cheering of more than 38,000 home fans (less than 3,000 tickets were sold to Torino fans in this game to prevent possible clashes between the two sides) will put a lot of pressure on the away team, but you must know that Juve's squad at this time is full of rotation players! There is still a big gap between their abilities and the main team, but the red bulls, who play all the main forces, can't take any advantage of the other side, which makes the Turin supporters who originally thought they were also a strong team feel a little uncomfortable.
Torino have been doing well against teams at the top of the table this season, and they can barely draw with Milan and Roma, which can be said to be commendable in terms of potential and resilience. However, when facing the middle and lower teams, there are often large fluctuations, and there are some situations where the strong are strong and the weak are weak, and the play of strength is quite unstable.
In the first derby of the season in Turin, facing the old lady who went all out, the Torino team, which was at a low point at the time, showed a very good form and desire to win, and in the end it was only due to inexperience that the opponent scored two goals in the closing stages of the game and unfortunately lost.
Before today's game, they had just won four consecutive games and were at their best morale, but their opponents were distracted by the Champions League, which should have been a great opportunity for Torino to rewrite the history of the confrontation. But the players failed to play their 100% ability as expected, and even the last derby was not as good, which only shows that they have not really been able to improve themselves to the level of a really strong team, and they still need to hone and even adjust the lineup.
Back in the game, in the 38th minute, Dybala dribbled the ball into the heart of the visitors at high speed on the left, Akwa had no choice but to knock him down after being pushed half a body, and referee Valery showed the Ghanaian midfielder his second yellow card since the start of the game. Taking advantage of the set-piece, the home side also had a shot on goal, Cuadrado lobbled the ball into the box and Benatia followed up with a shot over the crossbar from the six-yard box, but the linesman had already raised the flag to signal him for offside.
In the 42nd minute, the Colombian winger forced Bareca one-on-one on the right side and was brought to the ground by the latter, and the third yellow card was also recorded on the Torino player.
A minute later, Juve created a great chance when Cuadrado feinted down the right and knocked back to the middle, before Dybala followed up with Mandzukic to link up with a small wall to burst into the box and save Joe Hart with a left-footed shot from eight yards. The four defenders were instantly pierced by the opposing two attackers like wooden stakes, much to the displeasure of Li Mudi, who ran to the sideline and shouted to remind him to concentrate.
Just before half-time, teenager Bareka suddenly stepped in to provide the assist, and after shaking off the angle, the inverted triangle back to the middle, Belotti's involvement in the box gave Rajadzic a chance to get his feet 11 yards from the goal, but his curling ball went slightly over the crossbar and missed the good chance.
The half-time whistle blew immediately, and the two sides exchanged blanks, only hoping for a breakthrough in the second half. Although Torino's 45% of possession is not unsightly, the result of 0-of-5 shots on goal still exposes the lack of attacking power in recent times. Juve, on the other hand, got 2 out of 8 data, which is not very good, but it still has a slight advantage.
In the 15 minutes in the locker room, Li Muddy wanted to make some adjustments to the front lineup, but Jesse still did not fully recover, although Cherci had a stunner performance in the last round, but it was difficult to perform in the face of Juve's steel defense, and there was really no one to replace him. I had to tell the players to focus on the weaknesses of the opponent's two ribs, right-back Lichtsteiner is older and very slow; Left-back Asamoah made a cameo appearance and could inevitably make mistakes under pressure, which the two Torino wingers could exploit.
Less than a minute into the second half, Boyer's surprise attack almost forced the Swiss veteran to make a big mistake, Lichtsteiner faced the opponent's cross and blocked it, but changed the flight path of the ball and went straight to his own goal, but Neto was focused enough to move quickly into place to hold the ball in his arms.
In the 49th minute, Cuadrado dribbled the ball to the right side of the penalty area and knocked it horizontally, Mandzukic did not directly attack the goal, but chose to stop the ball to adjust, but unfortunately the action was too big and Rostini successfully cleared.
Two minutes later, the visitors' attacking route shifted to the right, with Baseli playing the ball to Falke, the Spanish winger cutting inside after brushing past Sturaro, and Asamoah, who played at left-back, abandoned his position and followed his opponent to the middle. On the left side of the arc of the penalty area, Farke adjusted a step and prepared to shoot from distance, but Asamoah was brought down with the ball, and the referee blew the whistle to signal that it was a foul, and then gave the home team their first yellow card of the day.
With this well-placed direct free-kick, the first shot from Torino was within range of the woodwork and knocked on the goal of their rivals. Rajjdzic's curling ball went around the jumping wall and fell quickly, hitting the lower edge of the crossbar and bouncing into the net, to which Neto did not react and could only sigh at the ball.
Slow-motion replays showed that the ball was less than 5 centimetres from the crossbar and the junction of the post, which was an absolute blind spot and would have been difficult to make an effective save even when Buffon had arrived. Juventus also had a lot of problems with the arrangement of the human wall, and it was Dybala, the shortest, who flew over the head of the shortest of them, and if it were changed to a person who was five or six centimeters tall, it might have been stopped.
In any case, the momentum of the away fans in the stands overpowered the opponent for the first time today, but due to being outnumbered, they were killed in an instant, and the confrontation between the two sides became more and more intense, making the security personnel at the scene extremely nervous.
It was the second time Juventus have fallen behind at home in Serie A this season, having last faced Udinese in the eighth round last October, but they eventually scored twice in a row to complete the comeback and maintain their home win. After beating Genoa 4-0 half a month ago, they have won a record 33 consecutive home league games, and although the outside world has been hoping that a team can put an end to this terrible number, it has never been realized, is it possible that a miracle will happen today?
The score was behind, which made Allegri, who had been sitting firmly in the Diaoyutai a little impatient, and he began to stand on the sidelines for a long time and shout to his players to plan new tactics. The home team's players were even more unbalanced, and after the restart, Dybala wanted to use his individual ability to complete the breakthrough, but unfortunately he was spotted by the steady Ranocchia, and controlled the ball at his feet with a tackle. The Argentine genius was in a hurry to counter-rob on the spot, but the action was too big, and he kicked directly to the calf of the Torino central defender, and was shown a yellow card by the referee.
Ranocchia, on the other hand, was in a lot of pain, and it was only after the treatment of the team doctor that he recovered, but this also shocked the Torino coaching staff in a cold sweat.
However, the Old Lady is indeed one of the top giants in Europe at the moment, and they quickly adjusted their mentality and launched wave after wave of attacks on the visiting team's defence. In the 54th minute, Dybala and Khedira stuffed the ball in succession, and Mandzukic followed up with a shot from 8 meters from goal on the right side of the penalty area, but it missed the far post. Joe Hart made a save, but he fell to the ground noticeably half a beat slower, and if the ball had been deflected 10 centimeters inward, it might have been a goal.
Allegri played his first card in the 56th minute, replacing the inactive Sturaro with Higuain, putting the team's top scorer up front, with Mandzukic behind him to form a double centre-forward or use his enthusiasm to counter-attack up front.
Seeing that the opponent made a move, Li Mudi naturally wanted to respond, he summoned Benasi, who had completed the warm-up, to come back, and prepared to replace Boye, who had consumed too much energy, and changed the formation to 4-3-3 to strengthen the control of the midfield. However, before assistant coach Samfield could explain the change of tactics to the players, an accident occurred on the field, which completely overturned the Torino manager's plan.
In the 57th minute, Asamoah broke the ball at the back and launched a counterattack, Mandzukic received the ball and stepped forward at high speed, but was brought down by a flying tackle by Akwa. Referee Paulo Valeri hurriedly blew the whistle to stop the game, and after a cursory look at the Croatian centre-forward rolling on the ground with his feet on the ground, he pulled out a yellow card to the Ghana midfielder and sent him off with two yellows and one red. This move made the visiting team very dissatisfied, because the incident happened near the middle line on the side, so the bench saw it relatively clearly, Akwa kicked Manjoo's feet, but it was caused by the joint action after shoveling the ball, blowing fouls are a bit far-fetched, let alone giving cards!
The slow-motion replay of the broadcaster also confirmed that the tackle did touch the ball first, which brought a huge controversy to the referee's decision, and caused a lot of sensation in the media and the Internet after the game.
However, Li Mudi could not wait until after the game to raise doubts, and he immediately yelled at the stadium and turned around to protest to the fourth official. Fortunately, Sumfield was right next to him, and he was able to save the boss who was already angry, and after two other colleagues arrived to help control the head coach, who was no longer able to hold back his swearing, the usually calm assistant coach went to the fourth official and raised objections to the yellow card.
The referee's penalty naturally cannot be changed, and the Torino team, which has already occupied the absolute initiative, can only accept this cruel blow and seek a solution to the problem of one less player.
In the broadcast room of the Celestial Dynasty CCTV Sports Channel, He Shishi and Director Zhang were also commenting on whether the penalty was reasonable, and the position of the Celestial Empire made the views of the two experts naturally biased towards their own families, but they also admitted that the Torino team would face a great test in the remaining thirty minutes, and they might not be able to leave with victory.
Originally, when the midfielder was sent off, he should have immediately replaced him with a midfielder who had a good defence, but because the previously decided substitution request had been submitted, Benassi still came on to replace Boyer. The defensive ability of the two playmaking midfielders was naturally not reassuring, so Li Mudi, who had regained his composure under the persuasion of his colleagues, immediately made a second substitution, replacing Farke with Lars Diarra, and the formation became 4-3-1-1.
But in this way, the lack of speed of the Spanish winger also made the Torino team's counterattack power plummet, and the away team was gradually suppressed by Juve's offensive and could only defend passively.
In the 62nd minute, Cuadrado's wide break created a corner, Dybala to the back post, Bonucci pressed Rossettini's header to the middle, and Rincón, who was only 1.77 meters tall, found a chance to head the goal, but unfortunately it was deflected off the far post by Zampacosta's interference.
In the 66th minute, Belotti made a successful steal in front of the field, and he took the ball to the periphery of the penalty area to shoot directly with his feet, but unfortunately he failed to pass Neto's ten fingers and was saved, and the visitors missed the opportunity to expand the score.
Two minutes later, Juve made a comeback, Lichtsteiner took the ball with his left foot from the right, Mandzukic headed into the box at the back post, Dybala directly volleyed the ball into the vicinity of the penalty spot, but the unguarded Khedira squandered an anti-aircraft gun and squandered the chance to equalise.
Seeing that the players on the field are indeed a little difficult to take on the role, Allegri once again offered his trump card, Bosnian midfielder Pjanic came out to replace the back Rincón, Juve's midfield organization instantly rose two notches, making the away team no longer able to play a counterattack in the following game.
In the 70th minute, the home team completed a multi-player combination, the ball passed through the feet of five players and was tucked into the away team by Dybala, Higuain cut in and leaned on Rosettini to turn and shoot, but the ball was too strong and was confiscated by Hart. The goal was very similar to the goal scored by the small smoking gun in the last meeting between the two sides, and it scared Torino into shouting, but fortunately it did not repeat itself this time.
A minute later, Dybala's cross from the left was followed up by Khedira who was blocked by Russ with his thigh. Seeing that the defense was tight, Li Mudi signaled Rajadzic to also recycle to the midfield and participate in the defense together.
In the 76th minute, Cuadrado failed to get a good step in a breakthrough and was cut off by Benassi, and the Colombian winger immediately failed to counter-attack, and in order to prevent the opponent from playing a counterattack, he was pulled from behind to the Torino midfielder, and received the home team's third yellow card of the game. The two sides were tied on this statistic, but thanks to Akwa's two yellows and one red, the visitors still suffered a big loss.