Juventus player ratings vs Bologna: Buffon preserves Juve win
By John Vaccaro
For a second there it looked like Juventus might let themselves drop points right after taking back Serie A’s top spot.
Juventus was far from convincing in this match, but a few big moments secured this win for Juve.
It started with Cristiano Ronaldo making a great solo run and then blasting the ball past Lukasz Skorupski at the near post for the opening goal. Unfortunately for Juve, they wouldn’t be the last goal of the first half.
Juve failed to convincingly clear a cross, allowing the ball to drop to Danilo inside the box. He placed a volley in a spot where it was impossible for Buffon to make the save. His goal sent the match to halftime tied at 1.
It would take only 9 minutes for Bologna to hand Juventus the next goal. A poor back pass ended up right in Miralem Pjanic‘s path and he quickly gathered it and beat Skorupski for Juve’s second goal. Bologna would get a chance to equalize, but their header went off the crossbar and the bicycle kick that followed was incredibly saved by Gianluigi Buffon to deliver the 2-1 win for Juventus.
GK: Gianluigi Buffon 8/10
Even at 41 years old, Gianluigi Buffon continues to save Juventus. He made a heroic effort to keep out a stoppage time attempt from Bologna that looked destined to steal 2 points from Juve. The only other shot he faced scored, but there was just about no chance any keeper would have saved Bologna’s goal. This was another great performance from Buffon as he continues to progress toward Paolo Maldini‘s record and could be one that makes a big impact on the Scudetto race.