Who were the heroes and villains in a fiery Derby della Mole? Football Italia rates the Juventus and Torino stars.
Words: Tom Scholes
Juventus
Neto: 6
The goalkeeper was relatively untested throughout the 90 minutes, but was beaten all ends up by Adem Ljajic’s stunning free kick. It’s hard to criticize Neto this evening, as he didn’t have many shots to save, but could do nothing but stand and watch the free kick fly into the top corner.
Who were the heroes and villains in a fiery Derby della Mole? Football Italia rates the Juventus and Torino stars.
Words: Tom Scholes
Juventus
Neto: 6
The goalkeeper was relatively untested throughout the 90 minutes, but was beaten all ends up by Adem Ljajic’s stunning free kick. It’s hard to criticize Neto this evening, as he didn’t have many shots to save, but could do nothing but stand and watch the free kick fly into the top corner.
Stephan Lichtsteiner: 5
A poor performance from the usually reliable Swiss full-back. He provided very little attacking support for the forwards and didn’t get involved as much as he should have. Compared to the usual standards of Dani Alves, Lichtsteiner wasn’t up to the task this evening.
Leonardo Bonucci: 7
In the first half, Bonucci was a rock in defence, stopping anything that would pass, and he even came close to opening the scoring following a goalmouth scramble. Ultimately, there was very little he could have done about the Torino goal, and despite a quiet second half, he was good enough within the first 45 minutes.
Medhi Benatia: 6
Much like his defensive partner of the night, Benatia was solid in the first half and hit the crossbar in the same scramble where Bonucci nearly scored. But in terms of a defensive performance, Benatia didn’t do much wrong. He was solid enough and couldn’t do much more in the game.
Kwadwo Asamoah: 4
In what world is Asamoah good enough to be a left-back? He got forward regularly, but his end product was dreadful with most of his crosses or passes missing his intended target. Safe to say this will not be a performance that Asamoah will be in a hurry to remember.
Sami Khedira: 6
A standard performance from the German, who will be remembered for his huge miss in front of goal where he skied what seemed like an easy chance. If Khedira had put that chance away, it would have been a completely different story. He seemed to open up a bit more once Pjanic came on, but his guilt edged chance will be something to forget.
Tomas Rincon: 5
Brought in to anchor the midfield, Rincon didn’t really do all that much in the way of anchoring, and was eventually subbed off for Pjanic following the Torino goal. Rincon just didn’t get into the game much, and him coming off allowed Juve to go forward more, with no defensive worries.
Juan Cuadrado: 5
There is no doubt that Cuadrado can be effective on his day and his direct, fast style can be very dangerous on the counter attack, yet tonight he just seemed a few steps off the pace. His end product wasn’t there and whilst he wasn’t afraid to take on his man, he couldn’t find anyone in the box all that often.
Paolo Dybala: 7
At times tonight, Dybala looked like the only one who was ready to change the game for Juve, even before the Ljajic free kick. His quick play and direct style tried to force the issue and arguably should have scored when he played a quick one-two with Mandzukic and shot straight at Joe Hart. After his withdrawal Juve missed that spark, and who knows, maybe if he had stayed on Juve may have come out victorious?
Stefano Sturaro: 5
Sturaro is a hard worker, and that’s what Juve fans love about him, but he didn’t provide enough penetration when it mattered tonight. His industrious play is good when everyone else is on song, but it wasn’t what was needed this game.
Mario Mandzukic: 6
A solid showing from the Croatian, who was placed up front tonight in the absence of Gonzalo Higuain. Mandzukic was very rarely on the end of chances, but he was always trying to get others involved, although at time he did look quite isolated in the final third of Torino’s half.
Subs
Gonzalo Higuain: 6
The late minute equaliser was one of the only things that Higuain provided in his short cameo, and was kept quiet at times by the superb Torino centre-backs tonight. A short, but important appearance for Higuain, although he will likely be saving his best for midweek.
Miralem Pjanic: 6
Juve’s play changed when Pjanic came on, as they chased a late goal to salvage a point from the game. His range of passing gave Juventus more options in front of goal and he added something that Rincon didn’t, which was an attacking threat.
Alex Sandro: N/A
Torino
Joe Hart: 7
The Englishman hasn’t had the best of seasons in his first year in Serie A, but tonight he was arguably the reason that Torino didn’t lose. It may be said that he didn’t get down quick enough for the Higuain goal, but he did more than enough throughout the game to save his side from defeat. Most notably his point-blank save from Dybala was very important and was one of their top performers tonight.
Davide Zappacosta: 6
A good, solid performance from the full-back, who put in a shift for the Turin side. He didn’t provide any outstanding moments going forward, however was very defensively sound up against the Juve attack this evening, and kept them quiet for the majority of the game.
Luca Rossettini: 7
A super performance at the heart of the defence for the 31-year-old, who put in probably one of his showings of the season. He defended like his life was on the line and didn’t let anything pass. His experience was key towards the end when Juve were piling the pressure on, and it was just unfortunate for Rossettini that he didn’t come away with all three points.
Emiliano Moretti: 7.5
Another great performance at the back for another experienced defender. The 35-year-old was defensively sound from first minute to last and was working very well with his partner in crime Rossettini. Defensively, this may have been Torino’s best performance all season, and most of the praise will go to this man Moretti.
Cristian Molinaro: 7
The final member of an experienced Torino defence, Molinaro was just as good holding the line and keeping opposition wingers at bay. It may not have been the most glamorous of defending, but it was effective nonetheless.
Afriyie Acquah: 5
Unfortunately, his controversial sending off will largely mar Acquah’s performance this evening, when some might say neither of them were yellow cards. But before his dismissal, Acquah was nothing but solid and was doing well in his holding midfield position.
Daniele Baselli: 6
He put in a decent performance as he tried to start attacks and get on the end of a few knockdowns outside the box, but unfortunately for the midfielder he had to come off due to an injury. Baselli was very reliable this evening and can hold his head up high.
Iago Falque: 6
The winger was a good attacking outlet on the Torino counter, but unfortunately he didn’t manage to create that much for striker Andrea Belotti. His pace could have been so vital up against Asamoah and Lichtsteiner, but he didn’t make the most of what seemed like a great opportunity.
Adem Ljajic: 7
Ljajic scored a wonderful free kick that is likely to have gone viral by the time you read this, but he was fairly decent throughout the game. Of course, his free kick will be the takeaway from this game, but Ljajic was on the end of a few chances both in the first half and in the second.
Lucas Boye: 5
An average showing for Boye before his substitution in the second half, and the winger was unable to be a threat. He was taken off for Benassi once Acquah was sent off, and his presence wasn’t exactly missed in the latter stages of the game.
Andrea Belotti: 6
The in form striker had a few sniffs at goal, but failed to really make anything of the few opportunities he had. His pressurizing in the Juve half was key to Torino’s game plan, but Il Gallo will be disappointed not to get on the score sheet.
Subs
Marco Benassi: 6
The midfielder was brought on the shore up the midfield in the latter stages of the game and did well in that regard, but was largely ineffective going forward. That being said, his introduction was needed for Torino and was helpful in getting that all important point.
Joel Obi: N/A
Juan Iturbe: N/A