It was a small hault for the Juventus Women in their season-long hunt for glory.
The Rita Guarino girls finished 0-0 away at Atalanta Mozzanica but nevertheless, we maintain at the top of the standings.
The result probably does not tell the whole truth about the match. We controlled for long passages of play, while the opponents were down to 10 players for more than an hour. Alas, Juventus were unable to unlock the Mozzanica defence, thanks to the numerous saves of their goalkeeper, Lemey.
The most obvious chance of the day fell to Valentina Cernoia who had a chance to put us into the lead with a penalty kick after Scarpellini's red card challenge on Aluko. But it was just not to be. From then on out, the defensive capabilities of the opposition were able to stifle our attack.
We continued to grind and create chances in the Atalanta area, but it was not to be: Cristiana Girelli almost saw her headed effort in the back of the net at the 22’ mark. She then followed up with a deflected low drive at 41'. After the break, it was Girelli again that came close to scoring with another header but the Mozzanica door stayed shut and it would stay that way for the remainder of the match.
« After the match, Coach Guarino had this to say - We had many opportunities, in addition to the penalty, which we did not exploit. We were not very lucid, even in our 90 minutes of attacking. »
Serie A Women National Championship. 5th Round.Campo Comunale di Caravaggio – Via Olimpia, 1 – Caravaggio (BG)Mozzanica-Juventus 0-0 **
Mozzanica: Diede, Rizzon, Jordan, Stracchi (Cap), Colombo (38’ st Pellegrinelli), Lazzari, Kelly, Re, Martinovic (26’ st Caccamo), Scarpellini, Anghileri (21’ pt Piacezzi). Bench: Salvi, Zanoli, Fusar Poli, Ghisi. Coaches: Michele Ardito
Juventus: Bacic, Hyyrynen, Gama (Cap), Salvai, Sikora (28’ st Bragonzi), Pedersen, Cernoia, Caruso, Glionna, Girelli, Aluko. Bench: Russo, Panzeri, Franco, Nick, Cantore, Ekroth. Coaches: Rita Guarino
Sent off: 16’ pt Scarpellini (M)
Booking: 3’ st Rizzon (M), 28’ st Aluko (J)
Next match:Juventus - MilanSerie A Women National Championship. 6th Round.Sunday 17 February 2019 at 12.30 Juventus Training Center in Vinovo, Turin