Juventus kept the winning going in the Derby della Mole, which had a weird development as the Bianconeri scored twice early, but Torino managed to get back in the game with a penalty and threatened the lead early in the second half, then a Cristiano Ronaldo free kick pulled the chestnuts out of the fire.
Gianluigi Buffon: he did not get to play hero, but it was a momentous occasion for the legend, who surpassed Paolo Maldini and is now the player with the most Serie A appearances in history with 648. He had a couple of good saves but business as usual. Matthijs De Ligt was unlucky on the penalty as those pesky arms keep sticking out, but he actually had a strong display, hooking and clearing a couple of dangerous balls in the box. Leonardo Bonucci was less flashy, Danilo attacked a little more than usual but all in all remain a weak spot of the formation, given for instance how meaningful the contribution of Juan Cuadrado was on the other flank.
Juan Cuadrado (6 points): he is mastering the role more and more and it showed on a pair of defensive plays, but he had the best stuff on the other end, as he dished it to Paulo Dybala prior to the early goal, then took it upon himself to find the target with a wicked cross-shot at the end of a sprint. Rodrigo Bentancur turned in another strong shift and had the best display out of the players that did not make it to the stat-sheet and he is starting to be ubiquitous. Limited minutes for Miralem Pjanic, who was not asked to do much in the first half and was perhaps limited by a knock. Adrien Rabiot was fine early and late, when he got to play centrally and had less ground to cover. Blaise Matuidi played a good chunk of minutes and was energetic as usual, but wasted a pair of fast-breaks due to hurried decisions.
Cristiano Ronaldo (6 points): after two years and 43 attempts, he finally bagged a free kick, not coincidentally one of the rare attempts where he did not jut try to smash it home, but used some touch. A seminal goal as the going had begun to get tougher due to the opponents’ growing confidence and the decreasing energy. He also perfectly sprung Cuadrado loose before his goal. It took just two minutes for Paulo Dybala to once again waltz in the box and crack open the contest and followed it up with another convincing outing, unfortunately he got booked and will miss the next match. Federico Bernardeschi was as frustrating as ever due to his stubbornness in looking to shoot, Douglas Costa was instead a flash, reiterating his tendency of looking awesome off the bench when the enemies are gassed.
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