22 December 2022
After the impressive 2-0 win against Arsenal, Juventus defeated Rijeka 10at a behind closed doors Allianz Stadium this afternoon, in the first of two Turin friendly tests, in order to increase the Bianconeri’s match sharpness ahead of the season restart on 4th January 2023. The win came thanks to a solitary second half Moise Kean goal on 73 minutes.
Surprisingly it would be the visitors, Rijeka to have the first big chance in the match, as Andro Babić’s header from a corner just went over the bar after minutes of play. The side currently occupying fourth place in the Croatian top flight would be spurred on and go even closer when Prince Ampem’s effort was saved by Wojciech Szczesny and the rebound was just cleared off of the line by Manuel Locatelli! The Bianconeri soon responded and Matias Soulé saw his chance flash just wide of the post following a one-two with Arek Milik.
Juve came agonisingly close to taking the lead, when great work by Filip Kostić found Moise Kean in the box, but despite just having the keeper to beat, Kean somehow put his effort wide of the goal. 10 minutes later and the same Kostić-Kean combo leading to the Bianconeri forward again just missing the target with his head.
The first half drew to a close with the score goalless, as the second half began with a fairly slow pace, with the first real chance again falling to the visitors, when Pablo Alvarez stung the palms of substitute, Mattia Perin with an effort from distance on 63 minutes. The match-winning goal eventually came 10 minutes later, when Marley Aké’s sublime pass found Kean in the box and his great touch and shot was initially saved by goalkeeper, Nediljko Labrovićl only for Kean to knee in the rebound into the back of the net.
1-0 it would finish at the Allianz with Juve getting another pre-restart win under their belts, with the next test coming on Friday 30th December against Standard Liège at Allianz Stadium (14:30 CET).
