Juventus player ratings vs Lokomotiv Moscow: Paulo Dybala rescues Juventus from embarrassment
By John Vaccaro
On Tuesday, Juventus got their second ugly win in less than a week thanks to Paulo Dybala.
Juve had very little to offer in the first half of the match and even ended up going into the half trailing a Lokomotiv Moscow squad that was predicted to finish last in Group D. A Lokomotiv goal kick ended up deep in Juve’s half with Aleksei Miranchuk, who played Joao Mario in on goal. Mario’s shot was saved by Wojciech Szczesny, but the ball ended up directly in Miranchuk’s path and he scored the match’s opening goal before Szczesny could recover.
In the second half, Juve continued to struggle creating real scoring opportunities. They made it all the way to the last quarter hour before Juve got themselves back into them match. In the 77th minute, Lokomotiv gave Paulo Dybala space near the edge of the box and he perfectly placed a curling shot in at the far post.
It wouldn’t take long for Juve to take the lead from there. Alex Sandro unleashed a dangerous shot from outside the box that forced a save from Lokomotiv’s keeper. That save ended up falling to Dybala and he finished the rebound to give Juve the lead. they would hold that 2-1 lead and keep themselves at the top of Group D.
GK: Wojciech Szczesny 6/10
Wojciech Szczesny wasn’t called into action very often, but the one time he was, it was a mixed bag. He did a great job to save Joao Mario’s shot on the breakaway, but he pushed the shot directly into the path of Aleksei Miranchuk, who easily gave Lokomotiv the 1-0 lead. That was pretty much the end of Szczesny’s involvement in the match. It’s hard to blame him for the goal when his defense put him in a really tough spot, so he gets a slightly above-average grade for the day.