It was an exciting night in Serie A on Tuesday as Juventus twice came from behind to win the Turin derby 4-2 and Cremonese upset Roma 2-1 despite Jose Mourinho receiving a red card. Paul Pogba made his eagerly anticipated first appearance of the season during the match, but it was a Frenchman for Torino, Yann Karamoh, who put his team ahead after just one minute. Juan Cuadrado soon brought parity to the scoreline with his deflected effort after 16 minutes though, and Juventus went on to seal an eventual victory with three second half goals that exerted their dominance over the city rivals. The result will boost morale and confidence ahead of their upcoming fixtures – perhaps finally showing why Paul Pogba was referred to as ‘the Octopus’ during his time at Manchester United.
Paul Pogba’s long-awaited return to the pitch during the Juventus-Torino fixture brought the excitement from fans around the world. After nine months without playing competitively, he made an impactful contribution, replacing Enzo Barrenechea with 22 minutes left. However, it was Antonio Sanabria that initially restored the Turin lead after 41 minutes with an impressive first-time shot at the near post that surprised Wojciech Szczesny. At the brink of a Torino win, Danilo broke their hopes and levelled in added time with a powerful header off a corner bouncing off the post, setting up Pogba’s re-introduction to competitive play with Juve’s surge forward. Ten minutes later Adrien Rabiot completed Juve’s victory and Pau Pogba proudly rejoined the football scene again by triumphing over his rivals.
The return of Pogba last summer brought cheers from Juventus supporters, excited to see a player who was an integral part of their previous four Serie A titles come back to the team. Initially hoping to make it into the French national squad for the World Cup tournament in Qatar, he later accepted that surgery was required and confronted his injury head-on. His return seemingly has not been enough for Juventus who have since faced a 15 point penalty, leaving them in seventh place with ten points separating themselves from fourth-placed Lazio. Cremonese recently got their first win of the season which elevated them off the bottom, one point above Sampdoria but still with eight points to make up if they wish to keep away from Spezia at the edge of the relegation zone.
Roma had high hopes at the start of the weekend for a return to the Champions League places, yet ended it further down in fifth after a difficult game. Frank Tsadjout opened the scoring early with a missile that showed his impressive technique, but Roma often found themselves stuck against Lazio’s compact defense. Following this frustration, manager Jose Mourinho was controversially sent off during halftime as his passionate protests were deemed too much. In spite of their ambition and relatively quick start, Roma will have to try again as they remain ensconced in fifth place.
The hour-mark was an eventful one in today’s game, as coach had five changes to make among them were attackers Tammy Abraham, Stephan El Shaarawy and Ola Solbakken. It didn’t stop there, as Wingback Leonardo Spinazzola scored the equalizing goal through a brilliantly worked move in the 71st-minute. Roma goalkeeper Rui Patricio then took down David Okere and allowed Daniel Ciofani to take advantage of his mistake by slotting in the penalty in the 83rd minute. The game has taken many turns since these three moves which will be exciting for every fan to watch through till till its conclusion.
