Serie A | Torino 0-1 Juventus: Locatelli decides Derby della Mole
Manuel Locatelli’s precise strike in the final minutes gave Juventus the Derby della Mole, but Torino will regret wasting their first half dominance.
Both these city rivals had injury problems, above all in attack, where Andrea Belotti, Simone Zaza, Marko Pjaca, Dennis Praet, Simone Edera and suspended Koffi Djidji missed out for the Granata. The Bianconeri were without Alvaro Morata, Paulo Dybala and Aaron Ramsey, but had Arthur Melo and Kaio Jorge back on the bench, but Moise Kean started with support from Federico Chiesa and Federico Bernardeschi after the midweek 1-0 win in Chelsea.
Kean had an early counter that he fired wide, while Weston McKennie and Wilfred Singo had efforts off target, but Sasa Lukic came so close with his free header whistling just wide from a very long Ola Aina throw-in on 21 minutes.
Toro began to take control as time wore on, pinning Juve back into their own half, Wojciech Szczesny flying to palm away a Rolando Mandragora rocket from distance and Singo’s strike charged down by Rabiot.
Juve had one other counter just before half-time, Chiesa unable to get on the end of the Kean roll across the six-yard box, but the half concluded with 39.5 per cent possession and zero shots on target.
Max Allegri removed Kean and moved Chiesa to a centre-forward role for the restart, which proved effective, as Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had to make his first save on an Alex Sandro bullet header.
Giorgio Chiellini needed a last-ditch tackle on Lukic and Juve had penalty appeals waved away for Tommaso Pobega bundling into the back of Juan Cuadrado, as the referee thought the Colombian had slowed down intentionally.
Rabiot pulled back from the by-line for Chiesa, intercepted by a crucial Cristian Ansaldi defensive intervention.
Juve were pushing further forward as the game wore on and Torino once again conceded in the final 15 minutes, as Chiesa set up Locatelli on the edge of the box for a precise right-foot strike that went in off the inside of the upright, giving Milinkovic-Savic no chance.
Manuel Locatelli strikes late for Juventus in the Turin derby!
It’s a lovely finish from the Italian midfielder
pic.twitter.com/H1L2xAaCUk
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 2, 2021
Dejan Kulusevski almost added another moments later, his effort thumping the base of the same post, but this time going out.
Not only was this a big victory for Juve, but also their first Serie A clean sheet since March, ending a run of 20 consecutive Serie A matches conceding.
Torino 0-1 Juventus
Locatelli 86 (J)