Turin: Juventus put on a dominating show beating Bologna 2-0 in Serie A at the Juventus Stadium in Turin on Sunday (January 24). Arthur Melo and Weston McKennie netted for the home side to continue their recent winning run.
Andrea Pirlo set up his side in a 4-4-2 formation with Giorgio Chiellini being paired with Leonardo Bonucci at the centre of the defence. Federico Chiesa and Weston Mckennie starting as wide midfielders completed a four-man midfield with Arthur alongside Rodrigo Bentancur starting in the middle of the park. Cristiano Ronaldo shared the forward line alongside Dejan Kulusevski.
Juventus were the obvious dominator of the game from the start and it didn’t take long for them to find the rhythm. Arthur broke the deadlock for the Bianconeri as his long-range attempt got deflected before finding the back of the net. His inclusion in the squad has been a positive who was controlling the game exquisitely providing that creative spark in the middle of the park that the home side was missing in recent times.
The best chance in the half came for Cuadrado went clean through one on one with the goalkeeper but failed to keep his composure hitting over the bar. Ronaldo got one as well but his swerving drive was handled safely by Lukasz Skorupski who was quite busy between the posts in the afternoon.
Although the home side were enjoying the possession, Bologna didn’t back down as well. Roberto Soriano got a great chance from just outside the box but his shot got side netted.
Mckennie scored the winner meeting a delivery from a corner heading it home. The American has quickly become an integral part of Pirlo’s plans showing great promise with his excellent work rate, intelligence and technique.
Juventus goalkeeper Szczesny probably rescued Cuadrado from a huge embarrassment when he saved Jerdy Shouten’s swerving cross into the box which took a huge deflection off the Columbian going for an own goal.
Bologna tried hard to create something but wasn’t able to match the individualism of defending champions. Juventus took full three points to stand at fourth just behind Roma in the table.
