October 31, (THEWILL) – On Saturday evening at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi, Juventus suffered their second consecutive Serie A defeat in three days, as Hellas Verona held on to an early lead to win 2-1.
With two goals in the first quarter of an hour, Giovanni Simeone threw Juve into a tailspin. Arthur was so disoriented by a swarm of Verona players in the 11th minute that he turned towards his own goal and slid a pass into the foot of the hosts’ Antonin Barak in the Juve area. Wojciech Szczęsny rushed out to make a good block, but “Cholito” got the rebound and put his team ahead.
Simeone was back on the scoresheet after only three minutes, arcing a spectacular effort over the helpless Szczesny to double Verona’s advantage and bring his personal record to six goals in a week, equaling the total number of goals Juve had scored in their previous six matches in all competitions.
The team managed by Igor Tudor, a former Juve player and assistant coach, hounded his old employers all over the field, which was not difficult given the BIanconeri’s stunned state for much of the first half.
In the closing stages of the half, Paulo Dybala, the only ray of hope in an otherwise depressing 45 minutes, clipped the top of the crossbar after some unusual Juve urgency in midfield.
After the break, the visitors had a greater share of possession, boosted by Massimiliano Allegri’s double-change in midfield, bringing in Weston McKennie and Manuel Locatelli, which he deployed within 15 minutes of the restart.
With a pass punched into the feet of Danilo, the player injected some much-needed thrust into proceedings. McKennie had time to get the ball out of his feet and crash his shot in off the bar, adding a tinge of excitement to the final ten minutes of a game that had been meandering to its final result.
At the final whistle, Allegri’s side had suffered their second straight defeat. With the loss, Juventus slid to ninth place, while Hellas Verona moved into eighth place, leapfrogging their opponents.
Hellas Verona will be back in action next Sunday when they travel to Naples to face league leaders Napoli. In Champions League play on Tuesday, Juventus hosts Zenit, before welcoming Fiorentina to the Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
