Juventus passed an eerie quarter of an hour at the beginning of the second half when they nearly threw away the lead (again) due to a dip in focus, but other than had the right attitude and generated a bonanza of scoring opportunities versus Bologna, fully taking advantage of the missteps by the Milan-based clubs.
Weston McKennie (6 points): another incredible performance by the American starlet, who might be the most consistent contributor throughout the season. He was seemingly everywhere in both phases thanks to his stamina, but he was especially impactful in the final third thanks to his impeccable timing on cuts and nose for the ball. He bagged the second pivotal goal with a sneaky header on a corner kick on the nth successful duel in the air. Arthur grabbed five points as well as he broke the deadlock with a lucky shot that was evidently deflected by an opponent and had a decent outing overall: he is looking increasingly comfortable but has yet to produce that game-bending pass he should be capable of. It was a rare match where the midfield and not the attack carried the team as Juan Cuadrado was dynamic down the flank, even though he left a lot on the table due to poor decision-making when it was time to finish plays, while Rodrigo Bentancur distributed the ball very ordinately and matched the hustle of the young counter-parts.
Wojciech Szczesny (7 points): the defense got the clean sheet even though the performance was not exactly spotless, as Bologna created few very juicy chances right after half time. The Polish goalkeeper was sure-handed on a pair of threatening sharp shots, but his best save actually came on a crazy attempted own goal by Juan Cuadrado, who almost put it under the crossbar with a bullet header, but he reacted very quickly. A rather uneventful tilt for the trio du jour formed by Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Danilo.
Cristiano Ronaldo (2 points): he did not have many clear-cut chances but he could/should have scored in this one as well, as Lukas Skorupski brilliantly denied his best effort late in the game from the middle of the box. While he did not take many shots, he was more active as an assist-man as he slid it to Arthur ahead of the initial goal and also perfectly set up McKennie with an incredible dummy and cross down the left flank, but the opposing goalkeeper caught that one as well. The front-line did not fully exploit the acres of room left open by the Felsinei in the second half and Dejan Kulusevski was not super sharp. Alvaro Morata did not have super impressive plays but added some needed straightforwardness when he subbed on and that helped seal the deal.
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