Juventus Women’s First Team were victorious over Roma, just as they were when the sides first met at the Allianz Stadium back in 2019.
Juventus Women won their second match in Championship history at the Allianz Stadium, and similarly to last time, they won by a narrow margin. It ended 2-1 in Turin thanks to a great first half performance and a controlled second period before conceding a late consolation goal.
THE MATCH REPORT
The first chance of the match fell to the Bianconere: in the third minute, Chiara Beccari tried to take advantage of a goal mouth scramble following a cross from the right, but the visitor’s defence were able to clear their lines. A few minutes passed before Juve again came close to scoring through Cristiana Girelli, whose volleyed effort following a defensive clearance from Roma looked set to be goal bound before Camelia Ceasar stretched out a hand to deny her.
The breakthrough came in the thirteenth minute: Estelle Cascarino's fantastic ball put Barbara Bonansea in behind the Roma defence. Bonansea made no mistake in beating the goalkeeper to make it one-nil.
Juve were reading the game well, their concentration levels were high, as they did not let the occasion of playing in front of a large crowd get to them, and Roma were struggling to get out of their own half.
The Bianconere struck again shortly after the half-hour mark. In the 35th minute, Sofia Cantore continued her extraordinary start to the season: she headed into the back of the net after Girelli had seen her initial headed effort saved by Caesar. 2-0.
Roma then tried to commit numbers in attack, however this meant Juve were able to threaten on the counter-attack: in the 37th minute Lindsey Thomas started a move before finding Girelli on the left, who was once again denied by Ceasar, and on this occasion also by Elena Linari, who in fact came close to scoring an own goal with her efforts to bloke the Juve forward’s shot.
It was only towards the end of the half that the Giallorosse really came to the fore, with Emma Kullberg doing well to make two key defensive interventions: first by blocking a left-footed shot from Manuela Giugliano, and then immediately afterwards by putting her body on the line to head clear Giada Greggi's shot from outside the box.
The second half followed in the footsteps of the first, with the only difference being the game was played a slower tempo - which was useful for Juve as they were able to manage the game better.
The Giallorosse were unable to create many clear cut chances to find a way back into the match, but at the back Kullberg was truly unbeatable at times; indeed it was Juve who looked as though they could put the game beyond reach on the counter-attack, but even the Bianconere were unable to cause many further problems for the Roma defence.
It was only towards the end that the Giallorosse came alive: in the 82nd minute Giugliano's free-kick hit the post, in the 86th minute Linari forced Pauline Peyraud Magnin into a decisive save, and in added time Benedetta Glionna scored from the edge of the box for Roma, taking advantage of some defensive indecision and firing a powerful shot into the corner.
It was not enough, however: Juve claimed a well-deserved 2-1 win, stretching their lead over Roma in the standings, and putting the perfect end to the splendid celebration at the Allianz Stadium. Now focus turns towards the Bayern Munich clash.
COACH MASSIMILIANO CANZI’S COMMENTS
“We made unforgettable memories today, the key was not to get overwhelmed by the experience and focus on the football. Instead, the girls were good, switched on and focused. It was as tough as we expected it to be because Roma are Roma, and they are the team to beat. To be able to win today is a great achievement. Credit to them as well as they didn't give up until the end. We are taking it one match at a time, there is still a very long way to go in the league. Today was an important challenge, to win in front of this crowd is something extraordinary. Today we enjoy this victory and from tomorrow we will turn our attention towards another difficult challenge in the Champions League against Bayern Munich.”
BARBARA BONANSEA’S THOUGHTS
“I am very happy, we are very happy: we suffered a little towards the end of the match, but for long stretches our performance was very good. We are happy to have all these fans here with us: the feeling was the same as five years ago.”
JUVENTUS WOMEN 2-1 AS ROMA
Women’s Serie A Tim – Matchday 6 - Phase 1
Allianz Stadium, Sunday 13 October 2024 at 15:30 (CEST)
Goals: 13’ Bonansea (J), 35’ Cantore (J), 93’ Glionna (R)
Juventus: Peyraud Magnin, Lenzini, Kullberg, Cascarino (71’ Gama), Thomas, Caruso, Schatzer, Bonansea (65’ Bergamaschi), Cantore (71’ Vangsgaard), Girelli (84’ Lehmann), Beccari (57’ Bennison).
Unused Substitutes: Rosucci, Boattin, Pelgander, Calligaris, Krumbiegel, Capelletti, Proulx.
Coach: Massimiliano Canzi.
AS Roma: Ceasar, Thorgersen, Linari, Minami, Di Guglielmo, Greggi, Kumagai (46’ Nielsen), Giugliano, Haavi (59’ Glionna), Viens (67’ Pilgrim), Dragoni (46’ Giacinti).
Unused Substitutes: Aigbogun, Corelli, Hanshaw, Pandini, Cissoko, Kresche, Mazzocchi.
Coach: Alessandro Spugna.
Referee: Andrea Calzavara
Assistants: Glauco Zanellati, Manuel Marchese
Fourth Official: Francesco Passarotti
Bookings: 17’ Cascarino (J), 72’ Gama (J), 73’ Giacinti (R), 82’ Lenzini (J)
Next Match:
Juventus Women-Bayern Munich
UEFA Women’s Champions League Group Stage Matchday 2
Wednesday, 16 October, 2024 at 18:45 (CEST)
Stadio La Marmora-Pozzo (Biella)