all about juventus http://highlight-football.adultforumhost.com/ Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:30:01 +0000 AdultForumHost http://highlight-football.adultforumhost.com/54968.html Following Inter s 2-1 away win at Bologna earlier today, Juventus knew they needed all three points from their trip to Palermo to keep their slim Scudetto hopes alive. Coach Claudio Ranieri opted to keep captain Alessandro Del Piero and Amauri on the bench at the start, playing with Vincenzo Iaquinta and the returning David Trezeguet in attack in a 4-4-2 system. Meanwhile, Palermo played in a 4-3-1-2 formation with Fabio Simplicio behind strikers Edison Cavani and Fabrizio Miccoli.First HalfThe start of the match was all in favour of the home side, with Miccoli coming close twice in the opening minutes. In the second minute, he made a run into the area and hit the ball with the outside of his foot, but Gianluigi Buffon managed to keep it out.Two minutes later, the former Italian international struck a shot from outside the area that hit the underside of the crossbar but didn t go in, and Buffon easily grabbed Simplicio s close range header on the rebound.The visitors responded in the sixth minute, when Trezeguet controlled a difficult ball well inside the area, and tried a shot on goal that was well saved by Marco Amelia.Palermo continued to control the match, but Juve did manage to respond from time to time. In the 22nd minute Pavel Nedved took a dangerous shot from 30 meters that forced Amelia into another good stop.Five minutes later, the Bianconeri took the lead, somewhat against the run of play. Midfielder Mohamed Sissoko found space to shoot from outside the area after going past Cesare Bovo, and fired a thunderbolt that went in just under the crossbar to make it 1-0 to the visitors.The Rosanero did not let their heads down and in the 31st minute they claimed a penalty as Buffon seemed to bring down Cavani in the area whilst completely ignoring the ball, but for some reason the referee ignored the incident.Juve seemed to have a good chance in the 33rd minute, when Iaquinta forced Amelia into a brilliant save with a close range header, but the Italian striker had started from an offside position.After scoring the first goal the visitors took over control of the match, and they created another couple of chances before the break. In the 40th minute, Nedved came close with a shot toward the bottom corner after receiving a good ball from Sissoko on the left side of the area, but once again Amelia was alert and kept it out.Three minutes later, Buffon s deputy in the Italian national team was put to work again as he dove to keep out a dangerous low shot by Iaquinta.The last chance of an entertaining half was for the hosts, Cavani making a good run toward the edge of the area before firing it low towards the corner of the net, but it went just wide of the target.Second HalfNo changes were made during half time by either coach. At the start of the second half, Juve kept very tight in defence, trying to make themselves dangerous mostly through counter-attacks.Because of this, there was a shortage of chances in the opening stages. The first chance of the restart came in the 62nd minute, when former Juventus man Antonio Nocerino forced Buffon into a good save with a shot from a seemingly hopeless distance.The Italian international was called into action again five minutes later on a dangerous strike by Miccoli, though again it was a shot from distance by the Rosanero.In the 71st minute, former Palermo star Amauri made his entrance on the pitch for Iaquinta, and received a lukewarm applause from the home crowd. Four minutes later, he fashioned his first chance as he tried an audacious overhead kick on a cross from the left by Nedved, but Amelia came up with a superb save.In the 79th minute, the Brazilian created the second goal of the match for Juve, as he made a good run on the left and played the ball into the center of the area for Trezeguet, who fired a shot that was deflected off Simon Kjaer and past Amelia.In the last ten minutes of the match, Juve had no problems hanging on to their lead as Palermo failed to create any more chances. This victory will allow them to remain nine points below Inter and they will remain second regardless of Milan s result tomorrow. TeamsPalermo (4-3-1-2): Amelia; Cassani, Kjaer, Bovo (89 Tedesco), Balzaretti; Nocerino (82 Succi), Liverani, Bresciano; Simplicio; Cavani, Miccoli. Coach: Ballardini.Juventus (4-4-2): Buffon; Grygera, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro; Camoranesi (68 Marchionni), Sissoko (92 Poulsen), Tiago, Nedved; Trezeguet, Iaquinta (71 Amauri). Coach: Ranieri.Goals: 27 Sissoko (J), 79 Trezeguet (J)Booked: Bovo (P); Grygera, Molinaro, Camoranesi (J) Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:12:27 +0000 http://highlight-football.adultforumhost.com/54949.html David Trezeguet marked his return with a goal to help power Juventus past Palermo in an entertaining affair in Sicily. Goal.com rates the performers on show.Feb 21, 2009 4:42:32 PMAmelia: 7.0- He was absolutely sensational this evening and had no chance on either of the goals. Balzaretti: 6.5- Provided the cross that set up Miccoli in the first minute of play and pushed forward at will after that. Kjaer: 6.5- The young Danish defender looked solid tonight and will no doubt attract the interest of many Serie A suitors in the near future although he still has lots to learn as evidenced by when he deflected Trezeguet s shot past Amelia.Bovo: 4.0- Was turned inside out by Sissoko for the first goal and then was made to look silly by Amauri who set up Trezeguet for Juve s second. Cassani: 5.0- Managed to get forward in the opening minutes but was largely invisible for the remainder of the game. Liverani: 6.5- The Palermo captain put in a hardworking shift in the middle of the park but will be aggrieved that it was not enough to stop the visitors from taking all three points.Simplicio: 5.5- The creative midfielder went missing for large portions of the match and was non-factor this evening. Bresciano: 6.0- The Aussie midfielder will not endear himself to his manager with performances like the one he put together tonight. Nocerino: 6.0- Was sporting a full grown beard that only Olof Mellberg would be proud of and after a rather inconspicuous first half he rebounded to have a decent second 45 minutes. Miccoli: 7.5- The former Juventus striker hit the crossbar in the opening minute of the game and was a real nuisance for the remainder of the match and should have found a goal for his efforts. Cavani: 6.0- The Uruguayan striker was guilty of squandering more than one opportunity on the evening. SUBS: Succi (82 ) NA, Tedesco (89 ) NA JUVENTUS Buffon: 7.0- 'Gigi' was as razor sharp as he was lucky in the first nine minutes but saved the day time and time again after that with his only mistake coming when he spilled Miccoli s shot in the 66th minute Molinaro: 6.5- The left-back who most Juve fans love to hate put in an admirable shift tonight. Chiellini: 7.0- The next great Italian centre back was stellar, assured and used his positional awareness to keep the Palermo strikers off-balance. Legrottaglie: 7.0- The back four as a whole have been shaky lately but 'Legro' did well tonight making a couple of vital blocks especially in the second half. Grygera: 6.0- Had a tough time dealing with Balzaretti s forward runs and was lucky not to have conceded a penalty for his handball in the area in the second half although it would have been a harsh decision. Sissoko: 7.5- Capped off a great performance with a magnificent sole effort that gave Juve a lead they would never relinquish. Tiago: 6.5- Is starting to come around after a disappointing first season with the Old Lady and put together another good performance tonight Nedved: 7.0- Rolled back the years with a fine display in a hostile environment and forced Amelia into making a handful of saves in the process. Camoranesi: 6.0- He was not his usual playmaking self this evening and was the first player taken off tonight. Trezeguet: 7.0- Made his first start upfront after a long injury layoff and found a goal to put the match to bed and will no doubt give Ranieri some selection headaches going forward.Iaquinta: 6.0- He got the starting nod after returning from a one game suspension but failed to add his name to the score-sheet. SUBS: Marchionni (67 ) 6.0, Amauri (71 ) 7.0, Poulsen (89 ) NA Sun, 22 Feb 2009 06:01:56 +0000