This match was a lot harder than it needed to be. We really dominated in terms of useful possession. And not for lack of trying, we just couldn't put it away. So nervously, we watched and waited after Amauri's great solo effort to squeak one through on the run.
Manninger - 5.5 - Damn shaky at points and miscommunicated with his defensive line often in the first half. But pulled in the balls when we needed it.
Molinaro - 6 - One massive first-half defensive blunder where his header blooped up just enough to give Torino an open look at goal. But otherwise he played well defensively. He prevented Torino from making decent crosses. Couldn't make any of his own, but I'll take it from him.
Chiellini - 6 - His biggest mistakes were in his lack of coordination with Manninger. Still, I loved it when Ventola ran into Manninger as if bowling down pins on a play where Manninger held on. And then Chiellini just put his arm around Ventola and whispered in his ear as if telling him, "You touch my keeper again, and in the parking lot after the match I am gutting you like a salmon."
Legrottaglie - 7 - Monstrous game. A real contender for MOM. There is no way I could have ever imagined this level of play from this guy in Juve stripes a few years ago. Forza Nicola. I'll give him co-man of the match then.
Grygera - 5.5 - Ineffective in attack. Generally ineffective in defense. A good player to sub, regardless of injury. (He played like he started injured.)
De Ceglie - 5 - While he provided some ambitious running at LM, he really added nothing to possession nor threat. Definitely worth subbing.
Nedved - 6.5 - Great pace, leadership. His presence may have not been as direct on the outcome, but it was all over behind the scenes. Didn't look very tired given what he put in against Real Madrid a few days ago.
Sissoko - 6.5 - Another aggressive tackle got him in trouble. But he still covered the length of the pitch and ensured that everything Torino had to do offensively was going to require hard work to overcome him. Another candidate on my short list for MOM.
Marchionni - 6 - Perhaps his best match in Juve stripes in a long while. Which, given that he's probably been healthy for about three matches out of the past year, that might not be saying much. Faded a little in the second half and didn't contribute enough in attack, but it looked like Ranieri was coaching him to play more back on the right side. He did do a bit to keep possession and keep the pressure on Torino.
Del Piero - 5.5 - Not one of his more stellar matches, but decent. It seems one of his biggest roles today was to be a yellow card magnet -- he took quite a beating today. Nice, challenge free kick in the first half.
Amauri - 7 - I have to give him MOM (shared with Legro) for the individual effort of the game-winner alone. And while some of the Italian media thought he was one of the poorer players at halftime, I thought quite the opposite. He did a great job of distributing the ball as he was frequently double- and triple-teamed when moving forward. He also got few good looks at goal.
Subs:
Mellberg - 6 - Didn't add much in the usual fullback category of crosses and wing support, but he held his ground defensively for the most part.
Giovinco - 5.5 - Not a very impressive outing. Could not turn corners around his defenders. Could not contribute enough to possession. Perhaps the best thing he did all game was get a yellow card for holding on to a Torino jersey that was about to blow by him and create a dangerous play.
Iaquinta - NR - On too late and rather non-existent in play.
Coach:
Ranieri - 6 - We got the win and deserved to. The team looked better than Torino, clearly. While we didn't try to sit on our hands with the 1-0 lead, I sensed a lack of commitment to put the game out of reach -- particularly with how Marchionni seemed to be instructed to play. If Torino was putting up a better fight, that might not be so terrible an idea, but we mostly risked more of a freak mistake between the keeper and defensive line today -- so the second goal would have been a better option, IMO. OK subs, and he didn't have too much at his disposal.
In short, a win is a win. A derby win even better. But this maybe gets us back on the right track.
It's about damn time!
Forza Juve! :flag:
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