Juventus suffer more frustration with goalless home draw against Genoa

By Sports Desk March 17, 2024

Moise Kean hit the post in added-time as Juventus continued their run of disappointing results with a goalless draw at home to Genoa.

Substitute Kean came close to winning it for the Massimilano Allegri’s side when he struck the woodwork in the closing moments but it was another lacklustre showing for a team with just one victory from their last eight Serie A matches.

Dusan Vlahovic, just back from suspension, made things even worse in the dying seconds when he was sent off – booked initially for a foul then again for dissent.

The Serbian could have finished things himself when he spurned a good chance in the 75th minute, but mid-table Genoa hung on for a welcome point.

The visitors were first to threaten from an early corner, Mattia Bani winning the header but unable to beat the dive of Wojciech Szczesny.

Szczesny had little to do as the game wore on but was required to mop up soon for a second time in quick succession when Vitinha got a half-volley away. Tempers soon flared between Danilo and Mateo Retegui, with the pair split up by the referee before play could resume.

Juve took their time to establish a rhythm in attack, but eventually stitched together a nice move involving Weston McKennie and Fabio Miretti. Federico Gatti took the chance to shoot but was denied by Josep Martinez.

The hosts continued to press forward without precision, Gatti trying unsuccessfully to make something out of Filip Kostic’s pass, Gleison Bremer heading wide from a corner and Federico Chiesa tumbling inside the penalty area to no avail.

Genoa’s counters were no sharper, with a couple of long shots failing to worry Szczesny.

Looking for a lift, Allegri made a triple substitution on the hour as Adrien Rabiot, Kenan Yildiz and Samuel Iling-Junior entered the fray. Things began to improve for the home side, who created a couple of half-chances for Vlahovic before Iling-Junior produced a flash of inspiration.

Letting rip from outside the area the England under-21 international came closer than anyone to breaking the deadlock, with Martinez getting a decisive touch.

Genoa’s resistance should have been broken with 15 minutes left to play, Andrea Cambiaso’s cross picking out Vlahovic in a scoring position only for the striker to fluff his lines.

That was as good as it got, despite the best efforts of the bright Iling-Junior, who had one last attempt on goal, and Kean as Genoa’s hard work earned them a share of the spoils following back-to-back defeats.

Related items

  • Leeds edge 'basketball game' at Swansea as Gnonto nets injury-time winner Leeds edge 'basketball game' at Swansea as Gnonto nets injury-time winner

    Wilfried Gnonto's stoppage-time strike fired Leeds United to the Championship summit as they beat Swansea City 4-3 in a contest defender Joe Rodon compared to a basketball game.

    Daniel Farke's team were twice forced to come from behind in South Wales as a Manor Solomon strike and a Ben Cabango own goal saw them respond to first-half efforts from Harry Darling and Liam Cullen.

    Solomon's second put Leeds 3-2 up with 73 minutes gone, but Florian Bianchini's 90th-minute leveller looked set to keep them third in the table, behind Sunderland and Sheffield United.

    However, substitute Gnonto tucked home following an assist from former Swansea winger Dan James, sending the travelling fans into raptures and securing Leeds' second straight victory.

    Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Rodon – who began his career with Swansea – said: "It was like a basketball game! Credit to the boys.

    "Every game we want to keep a clean sheet, but you know how it is in the Championship, and Swansea made it difficult for us."

    Gnonto now has eight goal involvements in the Championship this season, scoring three and assisting five. 

    Only Norwich City's Borja Sainz (11 goals, two assists), Middlesbrough's Finn Azaz (five goals and seven assists) and West Brom's Josh Maja (10 goals, one assist) have more.

  • Slot relishing Liverpool's Real Madrid, Man City double-header Slot relishing Liverpool's Real Madrid, Man City double-header

    Arne Slot is relishing Liverpool's upcoming double-header against Real Madrid and Manchester City.

    Liverpool came from behind thanks to Mohamed Salah's second-half double to beat Southampton 3-2 on Sunday.

    That victory at St Mary's moved the Reds eight points clear of Man City, who were thrashed 4-0 at home by Tottenham on Saturday for a fifth straight defeat in all competitions.

    Pep Guardiola's team visit Anfield on December 1, though first the Reds host European champions Madrid in the Champions League.

    And Slot cannot wait for Liverpool to go up against two heavyweights.

    "It's what you need in a league like this, with so many quality teams. You have to keep winning because if you don’t, the other ones will," the Dutchman told BBC Sport.

    "That's what we try to do every game, now it's Real Madrid and next Sunday it's Man City.

    "You couldn't wish for more than playing these two games in the upcoming week, at home."

    No manager in Premier League history has reached 10 wins in fewer matches from the start of their career in the competition than Slot (12 games, level with Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti).

    Liverpool were indebted to Salah, however, with the forward dragging them level and then converting the winner from the penalty spot after Mateus Fernandes had put Southampton into a surprise lead early in the second half, following goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Adam Armstrong before the break.

    Salah became the first player to score in five successive Premier League appearances for Liverpool since the Egyptian himself in October 2021 (seven in a row). His second goal was his 100th away from Anfield for Liverpool in all competitions.

    "It was very good that Mo scored in that moment," said Slot of Salah's first goal, which came in the 65th minute when he nudged Ryan Gravenberch's pass beyond the stranded Alex McCarthy.

    "It was not the best period of the game so he helped us with that and then afterwards we dominated so much, they got tired.

    "That is what special players do. They can score goals out of nowhere. It's not completely out of nowhere because the assist of Gravenberch is a great ball as well, but Mo is known for the timing of his runs, he feels the right moment to run behind the last line, and normally you know he’s not offside because he always finds the right moment, and then he scores the goal, which was very helpful for us."

    While Slot acknowledged Liverpool were tested by the Premier League's bottom club, he felt his team were always in control.

    He added: "It wasn't a surprise for us, we saw how they played against Man City, Arsenal and Newcastle in away games, never mind how they would play in a home game against a top team. But we dominated. Because we went down 2-1, it made it really difficult for us.

    "We dominated the whole game, which is not that easy against Southampton because they want possession, they want to dominate the game as well, but they couldn't. Because the scoreline was as it was, it felt like a difficult match, but if you look at the underlying numbers we deserved to win."

    Those metrics support Slot's point. Liverpool accumulated 2.9 expected goals from 27 shots, 11 of which were on target, while they also limited Southampton to 37.9% possession.

  • Fonseca urges Milan to take more risks after lifeless Juventus draw Fonseca urges Milan to take more risks after lifeless Juventus draw

    Paulo Fonseca urged Milan to take more risks in future and sympathised with the fans who booed his players after an unexciting goalless draw with Juventus.

    The two sides played out a game that included just three shots on target - one fell to Milan and two to Juve - while a chorus of boos greeted the full-time whistle.

    Milan have not scored in two home matches in a row in Serie A for the first time since October-November 2023 (vs Juventus and Udinese in that case).

    "When you don't win, and after a match like this, maybe if I was a fan I'd do the same," Fonseca told DAZN.

    "I'm not a defender of this and I understand the fans perfectly."

    Milan's only real chance before the break came through Emerson Royal, who headed wide of the near post after a corner, while a weak Theo Hernandez header straight at Michele Di Gregorio in added time was their only effort on target.

    They registered just two shots in the first half, and only three times before have they managed less (on record from 2004-05), with two of those instances also coming against Juve.

    "It was a very tactical match. The team had too much respect for Juve and Juve too much respect for us," Fonseca said.

    "We know that Juve defend very well, it is not easy to have opportunities against them and those we had to attack we did not exploit well.

    "We could have done something more offensively, we made a mistake in the last pass and we never took risks. It is not easy against Juve, but when we have the opportunity, we have to do better in the final decisions.

    "The team always had the will to play safe but, if we want to score, we have to take more risks. Normally, we always create different situations. Today the team didn't take any offensive risks."

    When asked if seventh-placed Milan - on 19 points with a game in hand - still stood a chance in the title battle, Fonseca responded affirmatively.

    "It's difficult for other people, but I still believe. There are still many games and other teams can lose points," he said.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.