It wasn’t pretty, but Juventus was able to extend their lead at the top of the Serie A table to 4 points.
They were sluggish in the first half, which has become a very frustrating habit this season. However, they were able to luck their way into a goal near the end of the first half.
In the 43rd minute, Blaise Matuidi passed a ball to Cristiano Ronaldo on the wing, which Ronaldo then cut inside with and made a run to the left side of the box. He took a shot that had no business scoring, but managed to get a deflection on its way through and sneak past Parma’s keeper. That goal sent the match to halftime with Juve leading 1-0.
In the second half, goals would come much more quickly. In the 55th minute, Andreas Cornelius found an opening from a corner kick to head a ball goalward. It ended up nestling in the far corner of the net. However, it wouldn’t take long for Juve to retake the lead.
3 minutes later, Miralem Pjanic sprung Paulo Dybala loose on the wing. Dybala then sent in a cross that found Ronaldo in stride in the penalty area and he was able to easily beat Parma’s keeper. That would be the final goal to deliver a 2-1 win for Juve.
GK: Wojciech Szczesny 7.5/10
Wojciech Szczesny played well in this match, but his teammates let him down again. He made a couple of really nice saves and saved 5 shots in total, but was denied his clean sheet because his teammates lost track of a Parma player on a corner and he perfectly headed a ball into the far corner of Szczesny’s net. Still, this was a very good performance from Szczesny who remains one of the league’s best keepers even if his numbers aren’t as impressive this year as they were last year.