Bianconere held to draw by Sassuolo

Juventus Women’s First Team suffered a small setback as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Sassuolo after an eventful encounter in Biella.

The Bianconere started strongly and took the lead after just four minutes through Cristiana Girelli, who was on hand to tap in following a corner kick. Juve continued to push and came close to doubling the lead in the 5^th minute again through Girelli, whose effort was denied by a last-ditch block, before also seeing her header hit the post in the 11^th minute.

After that opening flurry of chances, Sassuolo organised themselves and began to pose a threat: in the 16th minute Daniela Sabatino took advantage of a misunderstanding between Emma Kullberg and Lysianne Proulx, but her shot went just wide. The equaliser came in the 20^th minute when Gina Chmielinski caught Proulx off guard with a cross-shot.

The Bianconere looked to regain their lead in the 24^th minute when Barbara Bonansea unleashed a right-footed shot, but Solene Durand was able to make the save. Soon after another golden chance feel to Juve when Kullberg hit the post with an easy tap-in from two yards out, but the move was ruled offside in any case.

Sassuolo looked to respond blow for blow: they came close to scoring with Sabatino in the 27th minute and hit the post in the 28th minute after a deflected header, whilst Proulx was decisive in denying two close-range shots. As the first half wore on Alisha Lehmann tried to give the Bianconere the advantage once again, but Durand made an excellent save.

An action packed first half with goals and chances at both ends, and the second half continued in that vein: it began with a dangerous move by Juve in the 49th minute, with Lehmann finding Girelli in the box, but the Sassuolo defence deflected her effort behind for a corner. In the 56th minute, Kullberg came close to scoring with a volley from a corner, but her strike went over the crossbar.

In the 60th minute came another twist in the game: Lehmann put Juventus back in front with a powerful right-footed effort from the edge of the box that slotted into the corner. The Bianconere seemed to be in control, but in the 62nd minute Lehmann squandered the chance to make it 3-1, kicking wide of the empty net.

Sassuolo were able to stay in the game and in the 80^th minute they found the equaliser: a mistake by Proulx allowed Chmielinski to recover the ball and deliver a precise chip to make it 2-2.

In the closing stages, Juventus poured forward in search of the winning goal, but Sassuolo defended valiantly to take home a point. A second draw of the season for the Bianconere, which was, however, less impactful for the league standings thanks to Fiorentina's 0-0 draw in Naples.

MASSIMILIANO CANZI

“Mistakes happen, and today we paid dearly for them; I am disappointed with our bad first half, which was far from a great team performance; we cannot allow ourselves to lose concentration for part of the game. I am disappointed by parts of the second half as well, we had a lot of shots, but did not hit the target enough: we must put our heads down and concentrate only on the current game. Today definitely shows that easy games don't exist and that nothing is taken for granted.”

JUVENTUS 2-2 SASSUOLO

Women’s Serie A – Matchday Ten
Pozzo – La Marmora (Biella), Sunday 17 November, 2024 at 12:30 (CEST)

Goals: 4’ Girelli (J), 20’ Chmielinski (S), 60’ Lehmann (J), 80’ Chmielinski (S)

Juventus: Proulx, Kullberg, Rosucci (82’ Vangsgaard), Boattin, Thomas (63’ Krumbiegel), Bennison (63’ Caruso), Schatzer, Bonansea (83’ Bergamaschi), Lehmann, Girelli, Beccari (63’ Cantore).
Unused Substitutes: Peyraud-Magnin, Bragonzi, Cascarino, Pelgander, Calligaris, Capelletti, Lenzini.
Coach: Massimiliano Canzi.

Sassuolo: Durand, Orsi, Calazzo, Pieldrup, Brustia (78’ De Rita), Prugna, Mella (66’ Dhont), Philtjens, Missipo, Sabatino (78’ Monterubbiano), Chmielinski.
Unused Substitutes: Lonni, Adami, Fisher, Hagemann, Gallazzi, Di Nallo, Fusini, Clelland, Traore.
Coach: Gian Loris Rossi.

Referee: Alessandro Recchia
Assistants: Matteo Gentile, Alessia Cerrato
Fourth Official: Marco Cazzavillan

Bookings: 90+2’ Durand (S)

Next Match:

Arsenal-Juventus
UEFA Women’s Champions League Group Stage – Matchday Four
Thursday, 21 November, 2024 at 21:00 (CEST)
Emirates Stadium