As it’s often the case in the Derby della Mole, Torino and Juventus were embroiled in cagey affair, but the Old Lady eventually emerged victorious thanks to a second-half winner.
While the Bianconeri leaving it late is nothing new in the Derby, this time, the positive outcome was less expected amidst the club’s current shambolic state.
Nonetheless, the win turned out to be a huge sigh of relief for Dusan Vlahovic, his teammates and especially his manager who bought himself additional time at the helm – even if the hierarchy doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to wield the axe.
So here are our three takeaways from Juve’s hard-fought victory against their crosstown rivals.
The Difference Maker
Since his arrival to Turin, great many things at Juventus have been depending on Vlahovic.
Now surely the likes of Angel Di Maria, Paul Pogba and Federico Chiesa have massive roles to play once they’re fit, and thankfully Arek Milik lifted some of the burden off the Serbian’s shoulders, but at the end of the day, Dusan remains the ultimate difference maker for the club, and the stats tell how his goals have been the main difference between winning and losing.
The 22-year-old entered the match with a chip on his shoulder while looking hellbent on scoring, and his determination earned Max Allegri’s side three vital points.
Danilo’s Eventual Shift
Once again, Danilo proved to be a reliable force at the back while serving as a central defender. Even following Bremer’s injury, the former Man City man maintained composure, making one timely clearance after another, while also providing the assist for Vlahovic.
At this point in his career, the Brazilian will obviously make an eventual shift from right-back to centre-back as he’s increasingly looking like a natural fit at the heart of the defense.
Realistic Projection
Although this was arguably our most significant win of the campaign thus far, Juventus fans would do well to avoid high expectations.
After witnessing multiple false dawns in recent months, the three points and the morale-lifting win must be cherished, but it would take much more than a short Ritiro and a slight victory over Torino to convince us that we’re at the end of the dark tunnel.
Let’s see how it goes next Friday against Empoli.
Pretty much the same Juve side. Mediocre as usual and got a goal off a corner from Danilo’s wayward header. But otherwise the same inept attack and mediocre play.
Kean missed an absolute sitter. At what point do we cut ties on him. It’s been like 4 years waiting to n him to develop… a handful of goals on 4 years. Would he be playing on other top sides?
Cuadrado was just god awful. Lazaro was abusing him all night. If Torino actually had a legitimate striker this game would have gone differently.
What’s absolutely hilarious about this team is that from pirlo’s time to now the general idea for attack was to give the ball to cuadrado and have him cross all night and hope for a goal. Or dybala magic when he was on form for the night. Now no dyabala, whose play they miss dearly (also let him go because he’s too injury prone and replaced him with TWO injury prone players) now since cuadrado has fallen off a cliff. The offense runs through kostic who is doing exactly what cuadrado did but on the left and with no pace. If you have a pacey right back on kostic he’s basically shut down.
Well there isn’t one figure to rely on with real impact and consistency. Alongside with his age, fragile foot comes to hinder Di Maria from being that figure. With some composure, he will always be the inspiration with his passes and should be threat to expect for many.