The second game of 2013 for The Old Lady, not looking that good. Before the winter break they were leading by a whopping eight points, now it’s been whittled down to three. Juventus had been in the news earlier in the week, or should I say Claudio Marchisio was in the news for his apparent “antipathy” towards Napoli, Marchisio did not feature in this game due to the heavy bruising on his knee, which was a miss as Juve could have used his energy in this game.
It took Juve a while to get started as their opponents: Parma were using the same type of formation as them and they sort of cancelled each other out. For the first half an hour they were still trying to get a feel for the home side, but I have to say, it did look Parma were going to strike first especially after Gianluigi Buffon made a meal out of a back pass and then uncharacteristically flapping at the ball. As it was nearing the end of the first half Juve were getting more involved and it had looked like they had found the kink in the armour. Yet it was to go goal less at half time thanks to some wonderful saves from Antonio Mirante, throughout the game he was forced to make eight.
The second half saw a Juve side with more urgency. What was very encouraging was how they played for each other, and if someone missed a pass there was always some running alongside to gather it, thus always keeping possession. Over the whole ninety minutes The Bianconeri kept possession for 57% of the time, it may not be as wide a gap as before but that was due to the organisation and hunger of the home side. And this was a home side that hasn’t lost a game so far, and we all know how keeping that unbeaten record intact can be a huge motivator!
But eventually the Great Wall of Parma gave in, but it was due to a superbly taken free kick by Andrea Pirlo and a little luck thanks to a deflection. Finally Mirante was beaten in the 52nd minute, but had it not been for the deflection, the keeper would have had it covered. This did not dampen their spirits as Parma came harder and more often, yet they lacked that quality upfront to cause Buffon any real danger. Having said that Parma did have a talent in the making, in the name of Ishak Belfodil, the young Algerian born player was turning out to be quite a talent.
But as fortunes would have it, he did not score the equaliser, that achievement went to second half sub: Nicola Sansone in the 77th minute, he found himself ahead of Martin Caceras and he was straight on goal.
Juventus will see this as two points lost and whether or not it will be detrimental to their chance of retaining the title, only time will tell, all we can say is that we miss Giorgio Chiellini!
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