Turin, April 17 (BNA): Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic’s header in the 95th minute gave Juventus a dramatic 1-1 draw with its guest Bologna in the Italian Serie A, a match that the visitors finished with nine men.
After a poor first half, Austrian striker Marko Arnautovic stunned the home team’s fans with a calm finish in the 52nd minute to give Bologna the lead.
That sudden tremor prompted Juventus to play, as Danilo bounced off the post before chaos ensues 10 minutes before the end of the match, as Adama Somoro was sent off for his last judgment when Alvaro Morata missed the Juventus player.
The verdict didn’t end there, as Bologna defender Gary Medel was given two quick yellow cards before waving red for his protest against Somuro’s expulsion.
Juventus threw it all at the nine men in the final moments, with Vlahovic jumping from close range to break Bologna’s resistance upon death.
The draw means that fourth-placed Juventus’ hopes of a late title are over, with coach Massimiliano Allegri’s side eight points behind leaders AC Milan. He has 63 points with five games. Bologna remains in 13th place with 38 points.
“Fortunately, today we managed to equalize in a match that was complicated,” Allegri said. “It was a bad first half, then after we lost 1-0, we hit the post and we shot a lot on goal.
“We always score goals lately, but we need to improve and be more calm in the front areas. We would have lost these games at the beginning of the season.”
Juventus, who were playing with their new blue fourth crest, struggled in the first half. Other than Danilo’s shot that crossed the post and Vlahovic’s header just wide, they didn’t create many chances, with Bologna having some dangerous moments at the other end.
After the first half ended, Roberto Soriano made the perfect pass for Arnautovic, who dribbled past Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny before scoring his 12th league goal of the season.
From there or in it Juventus was all in in terms of possession and pressing, but they were kept empty of that final pass until Morata was brought down when a pass across goal.
The referee had not committed a foul in the first place, but after reviewing the VAR, Juventus awarded a free kick and sent Somoro off, before Medel lost his nerve and sent himself off as well.
As a result, Bologna’s first win over Juventus in 11 years was seriously jeopardized, denying Valhović his 50th Serie A goal a well-deserved win in Turin.
And in other Serie A matches, on Saturday, bottom club Salernitana gave their faint hopes of survival with a 2-1 win over struggling compatriots Sampdoria, while Lucas Torreira’s first-half goal led Fiorentina to a 1-0 win over Venezia.