Juventus managed to secure a 2-2 draw at home against the struggling Venezia, thanks to Dusan Vlahovic’s last-minute penalty conversion in Saturday’s Serie A clash, which continued their series of draws this season. As the hosts were on the brink of experiencing their first league defeat of the campaign, fortune favoured them when the ball hit Venezia defender Antonio Candela’s arm in the dying moments, enabling Vlahovic to score from the spot. With their tenth draw and fourth consecutive stalemate this season, Juve are now in sixth place with 28 points, trailing leaders Atalanta by nine points. Venezia remain at the bottom with 10 points. Although still unbeaten in Serie A this season, Juve’s record of only six victories from 16 matches was last matched by the Turin club in the 1998-99 season. Alongside Paris Saint-Germain, they remain among the only unbeaten teams in the top five European leagues.
Federico Gatti opened the scoring for Juventus 19 minutes into the match by tapping in a flicked-on corner at the far post, where he was left unguarded. Early in the second half, Juventus believed they had extended their lead when Kenan Yildiz found the back of the net, but the goal was overturned as it was deemed that he had inadvertently nodded the ball onto his own arm before scoring. Despite Juventus’s control of the game, Venezia levelled the score just after the hour mark through a header from Mikael Egill Ellertsson. A shock came to the Allianz Stadium crowd seven minutes before full time when Jay Idzes put Venezia ahead with a header from a free-kick delivery, only for Vlahovic to rescue Juventus.
DISCONTENTED SUPPORTERS
Juventus supporters expressed their discontent following the game, with boos and chants filling the air as soon as the final whistle was blown. Juventus captain Danilo led his team to acknowledge the fans in the stands. “There are traditions here at Juventus that must always be observed. Regardless of winning or losing, you must always go and acknowledge the fans,” he explained to Sky Sport Italia.
By the conclusion of the match, everyone is content, and if an error occurs, an apology is given, always with mutual respect between us and our supporters. Venezia’s coach, Eusebio Di Francesco, admitted his team was at fault for relinquishing two points in the dying moments. “I consider this as two points lost; we lacked shrewdness and should have handled the ball more effectively during the corner that resulted in the penalty incident,” he remarked. “I’m disappointed because this is a match we ought to have won, and based on our performance, we deserved it. However, we ended up with a draw, and it’s completely our responsibility.”
