Atalanta 1-3 Juventus
It’s matches like this that Juventus have made a habit of winning in recent seasons.
Victories in tough away encounters which have ultimately seen them dominate Serie A for the best part of the past decade.
The SBOBET Serie A 2019 betting odds again make them favourites to win the top prize for a ninth year in succession, and it’s results like this which make you see why.
This was never going to be easy, and indeed it wasn’t, but it was a result befitting champions.
Highlights of the game
The underdog success story of Serie A, Atalanta are still very much in the hunt for a return to Europe’s most prestigious competition for next year.
The hosts went into this just a couple points off fourth, tied with Roma. They had struggled in recent games, with just a single victory achieved in their last five encounters, including a shock home loss to surprise package Cagliari.
However, on a positive note, they had continued their free-scoring form and, just as they were last year, were the leading scorers in Serie A with 30 goals going into the international break.
When the club qualified for the Champions League last year, there was a fear among a number in Calcio circles that their team would be ripped apart by the bigger clubs, looking to take advantage of their limited resources.
That failed to materialise, as they not only held on to their top talent but added to it with the likes of Luis Muriel and Ruslan Malinovskyi. Both players have already made an immediate impact at the new Gewiss Stadium.
Atalanta welcomed the defending champions knowing there could be no better signal of intent that another top-four charge is well and truly on than defeating the Bianconeri.
Last year, they played them three times and went unbeaten. They drew both games in the league and knocked them out in the Coppa Italia with a commanding 3-0 win to make the final for the first time since 1996.
There’s no better team, of course, at delivering Serie A 2019 highlights than Juventus. That’s even without star man Cristiano Ronaldo, who was left at home to recuperate with an eye on a big European match on Tuesday.
Other absentees included Adrien Rabiot and Alex Sandro, both of whom are suffering from injuries, but Miralem Pjanic returned and Blaise Matuidi was fit enough for the bench.
Atalanta, meanwhile, were without Josip Ilicic after he lost his appeal to have a two-match ban revoked.
The forward was sent off in the first half during a match with Cagliari on November 3 and subsequently missed the goalless draw at Sampdoria before the international break.
An appeal against the decision was rejected and the Slovenian international was again absent.
The main talking point of the opening 45 minutes saw Musa Barrow miss a penalty, awarded after 17 minutes when Papu Gomez’s flick was intercepted by Sami Khedira’s arm.
Barrow struck the crossbar with the spot-kick and Mario Pasalic was unable to turn in the rebound.
Juventus keeper Wojciech Szczesny had also made a good save to deny Pasalic and pushed away a Gomez low cross-shot. Mattia De Sciglio’s desperate block prevented a Hans Hateboer tap-in as the hosts threatened.
The visitors lost Federico Bernardeschi midway through the first half after a knock to the ribs left him struggling to breathe.
Into the second period, the hosts took the lead their play merited 11 minutes after the restart.
Barrow floated an inviting cross and the unmarked Robin Gosens nodded the ball past Wojciech Szczesny.
Of course, there are fewer things more dangerous in football than a wounded Juventus, and they equalised with one of their first real efforts on target.
Douglas Costa created the danger and, from a clearance by Jose Luis Palomino, Gonzalo Higuain spun and saw his shot deflect into the net.
That set the scene for a Juve win, although the crucial goal had an element of controversy when it arrived eight minutes from time.
Juan Cuadrado landed with his hand on the ball during a sliding tackle but play continued and the Colombian pulled back from the by-line for Higuain to fire in from 10 yards.
Atalanta were furious and demanded an on-field review, but the VAR officials could not intervene, as both teams played the ball before that move developed into a goal – another fault with VAR which is yet to be resolved.
Paulo Dybala rounded off a fine performance with a solo goal in stoppage time as he weaved through an understandably frustrated home backline.
Job done, with an element of luck, but there’s nothing lucky about winning so many titles.
Key statistics
This was Dybala’s 200th Serie A game.
Higuain has 11 Serie A goals against Atalanta in eight games.
Juventus have conceded four penalties already this season – the most awarded against them since they conceded five in the entire 2014-15 campaign.
What’s next?
It’s another big week for both clubs.
Atalanta need to defeat Dinamo Zagreb to keep their Champions League hopes alive, while Juventus host Atletico Madrid, who they shared a four-goal thriller with in September.
Atalanta are at Brescia in Serie A next weekend, while Juventus welcome Sassuolo to Turin.
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