A Nightmare for Juventus: They Let It Slip Twice in the Closing Minutes; Sassuolo Wins 3-2

An unrecognizable and unacceptable Juventus—lacking punch up front and shaky on defense—lost 3-2 on the road in Reggio Emilia, handing Sassuolo a priceless and crucial victory. Everything went wrong for the Bianconeri: the forwards disappointed, Luciano Spalletti’s tactical decisions didn’t pay off, and only Edon Zhegrova tried to keep the ship afloat: the Kosovar, who came on in the second half, scored in the 82nd and 91st minutes for a brace that canceled out the two leads by Sebastiano Esposito and Kieran Bowie, but in the 94th minute, the Emilian side won with the classic “goal by a former player”: Adzic, though the Old Lady’s defense left him a glaringly wide-open space at the height of a performance best forgotten.

With a team in the midst of a crisis, Spalletti started several players who, at the beginning of the summer, seemed at best on the fringes of the project, if not completely out of it: among the starters were Douglas Luiz, Nico Gonzalez, and above all Teun Koopmeiners, who in the 33rd minute squandered one of the Bianconeri’s biggest chances of the first half. The very first chance, however, had been created by the Argentine, whose powerful right-footed shot had only grazed the crossbar. Alajbegovic and Conceiçao were also dangerous, but Sassuolo didn’t sit back: before halftime, Berardi (with a timely save by Vicario), Doig, and Sebastiano Esposito all had their chances.

The Bianconeri forwards continued to struggle in the second half as well, which opened with a fine save by Muric on Alajbegovic, while Kolo Muani stood out as one of the most ineffective players. Allegri played his cards—bringing on Zhegrova, Woltemade, and then Sarr (who came on for the disappointing Koopmeiners)—but it was Esposito who found the back of the net: in the 65th minute, the former Cagliari forward collected a pass from Matic and fired a diagonal shot past Vicario. An offside call denied Cinquegrano a second goal, and Juventus seemed to have salvaged their Sunday when, in the 82nd minute, Zhegrova capitalized on a flustered rush off the line by Muric to convert Kelly’s cross into Juventus’s first equalizer. Woltemade wasted an incredible chance to put his team ahead with a header, and in the 89th minute, Sassuolo regained the lead thanks to a splendid play in which Bakola set up Bowie for the goal. In the 91st minute, Kolo Muani made one of the few good plays of his match, setting up Zhegrova to equalize again, but it wasn’t over yet: in the 94th minute, Laurienté launched the counterattack that led to Adzic securing the victory for the home team. As a former player, he didn’t celebrate, but the bad news is all on the Juventus side.

The Koopmeiners situation deserves separate consideration. Spalletti had spoken highly of the Dutchman just before the match, explaining his view of the midfielder: “The difference lies in the playing time he gets, because when his opportunity to showcase his qualities is limited to 15–20 minutes, it increases his stress. Now he’s much freer and more relaxed; we’ll try to give him a role where he feels a bit more at ease, even though he’s an all-around player.” Words of confidence that make the former Atalanta player’s performance on the field all the more disappointing— signed for over 50 million and never truly breaking out in Turin—who, from a favorable position in the 33rd minute, could do no better than fire off a weak, central shot more akin to a pass, which Muric was able to stop without any trouble.

The most ironic paradox of the evening, however, concerns Zhegrova himself, the only one to save face with his two-goal performance. The Kosovar had been excluded by Spalletti from the UEFA roster for European competitions—an unmistakable sign of his standing in the Bianconeri hierarchy—and until just a few days ago, Al-Ittihad seemed to be in pole position to take him away from Turin. A bizarre twist of fate for a player who—as had already happened with Koopmeiners and Nico Gonzalez in the early matchdays (decisive against Milan and at Frosinone, respectively) — finds himself one of the few keeping Juventus’ hopes alive, only to see all his efforts undone by Adzic’s goal in stoppage time.

Sassuolo, for its part, can celebrate a victory that confirms the success of Alberto Aquilani’s project. The Neroverdi were coming off a 2-2 draw in Bologna, where they had taken the lead twice only to be pegged back in stoppage time by Dovbyk, and this time they didn’t let the three points slip away. Sebastiano Esposito, who arrived this summer from Cagliari, is proving to be the right signing, while Adzic—who chose not to celebrate against Juventus out of respect—is confirming the qualities already glimpsed in the first part of the season. For the Old Lady, however, it’s time for some serious soul-searching: with the infirmary full and few certainties to speak of, the road ahead is getting steeper and steeper.