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Juventus player ratings vs Cagliari: Dybala and Cuadrado score in lackluster win

By John Vaccaro

Juventus' players celebrate at the end of the Italian Serie A football match Juventus vs Cagliari at the Juventus Allianz stadium in Turin, on November 3, 2018. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo credit should read MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)
Juventus' players celebrate at the end of the Italian Serie A football match Juventus vs Cagliari at the Juventus Allianz stadium in Turin, on November 3, 2018. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo credit should read MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images) /
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TURIN, ITALY – NOVEMBER 03: Wojciech Szczesny of Juventus reacts during the Serie A match between Juventus and Cagliari on November 3, 2018 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by PressFocus/MB Media/Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY – NOVEMBER 03: Wojciech Szczesny of Juventus reacts during the Serie A match between Juventus and Cagliari on November 3, 2018 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by PressFocus/MB Media/Getty Images) /

Juventus looked mortal once again on Saturday in their win over Cagliari.

While rivals Napoli and Inter both won impressively this weekend, Juventus needed some good fortune to get past a mid-table Cagliari side.

As has been the trend for Juventus this season, it didn’t look like this match would be much of a struggle early on. Rodrigo Bentancur played a ball to Paulo Dybala, who made a nice move to create the space for the opening goal just 1 minute into the match. Unfortunately, another Juventus trend cost them once again. After the opening goal, they took their foot off of the gas and that opened up opportunities for Cagliari.

The first opening was an attempt from right in front of goal by Leonardo Pavoletti that was miraculously saved by Wojciech Szczesny. Szczesny wouldn’t be able to save the next chance though. Joao Pedro unleashed a shot to the near post through the legs of Joao Cancelo that equalized for Cagliari in the 36th minute.

It wouldn’t take long for Juventus to take the lead back. They got a fortunate own goal just a minute later when Douglas Costa sent in a low cross that didn’t really have a target. Luckily, Filip Bradaric redirected it into the net and gave Juve the lead back in the 38th minute.

There wasn’t much action of note during the rest of the second half other than a Ronaldo shot that hit the post. That lack of notable action carried through most of the second half as both teams failed to put a shot on target for the first 42 minutes of the second half.

Juventus would eventually get the first one of the second half and they made it count. Dybala released Ronaldo on the counterattack and then Ronaldo played Juan Cuadrado through on goal. He calmly slotted the ball to the near post and gave Juve the 3-1 win.

GK: Wojciech Szczesny 8/10

The 50% save percentage for Wojciech Szczesny in this match doesn’t look particularly impressive, but he is responsible for Juve leaving this match with 3 points. His phenomenal save in the first half was the reason that Juve’s second goal gave them the lead, which opened Cagliari up for the 3rd goal. Saves like that one is the reason why Szczesny is Juve’s starting keeper right now.

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