Juve remain top of the table but they are not alone, following a tough battle with a well organised Roma side, who held the Bianconeri to a 0-0 draw at the Allianz Stadium.
It was a match that confirmed the solidity of Juve's defence, zero goals conceded in three games, and which, unlike the two previous spectacular outings, did not see the Bianconeri be as prolific up front.
A TRICKY FIRST HALF
You could tell from the opening few minutes that the match was not going to be easy for the Bianconeri: Roma were well organised, cutting off the passing lanes effectively and slowing down Juve’s build up play compared to their first two league matches.
On the other hand, Thiago Motta's team never looked threatened defensively, and so for long stretches of the first half, although it was played at a good pace, there were very few clear-cut chances created.
The first period saw lots of long phases of possession, but chances were few and far between. Michele Di Gregorio effectively smothered a loose ball on the half hour mark, and at the other end Juve threatened to create chances out wide, especially from the right, with Andrea Cambiaso playing as a winger more than once forcing the Roma defence into action.
Some evidence of that was the Bianconeri's only real chance, with Dusan Vlahovic skilfully flicking Kenan Yildiz’s cross from the left towards goal but Svilar got down to save it.
Thus ended a first half deadlocked at 0-0.
THE SECOND HALF: JUVE STRUGGLE TO FIND ELUSIVE WINNER
The match remained tense in the second half: Juve immediately tried to come out on the front foot, with Teun Koopmeiners and Francisco Conceicao on the pitch from the opening whistle of the second period. In the 48th minute, it was Vlahovic who tried a shot from the edge of the box, but it was a slightly dragged effort that went wide of the bottom corner.
On the right, Conceicao used his pace to his advantage: Juve started to play quicker, and it was from there that they started to create some openings, such as a pass through to Yildiz towards the by-line in the 69th minute, with his effort once again blocked for a corner.
However, the game remained very even: Juve's passing lanes were quickly shut down by the Giallorossa defence, and indeed the closing stages of the game saw De Rossi's men try to take control and move up the pitch to try and threaten Di Gregorio's goal.
The pattern of the game did not change: plenty of possession, few chances created.
And so ended a very tactical match that proved complicated to win. Juve remain first in the table, but simply no longer alone. It is, however, definitely a good position from which to go into the international break.
THE TABLE
JUVENTUS-AS ROMA 0-0
Juventus: Di Gregorio; Savona, Bremer, Gatti, Cabal (46’ Koopmeiners); Locatelli (67’ McKennie), Fagioli (67’ Douglas Luiz); Cambiaso, Yildiz, Mbangula (46’ Conceição); Vlahovic (83’ González). Unused Substitutes: Perin, Pinsoglio, Kalulu, Danilo, Rouhi. Coach: Thiago Motta.
AS Roma: Svilar; Çelik, Mancini, Ndicka, Tasende; Cristante, Pisilli (72’ Koné); Soulé (61’ Dybala), Pellegrini (82’ Baldanzi), Saelemaekers (62’ Zalewski); Dovbyk (82’ Shomurodov). Unused Substitutes: Ryan, Marin, Smalling, Abudhamid, Dahl, Sangare, Paredes, El Shaarawy. Coach. De Rossi
Referee: Marco Guida
VAR: Aleandro Di Paolo
Booked: 2’ Fagioli (J), 44’ Saelemaekers (R), 85’ Bremer (J), 85’ Mancini (R)