Rome, Dec 31: Adrien Rabiot’s effort presented Juventus a new year gift as they beat Roma 1-0 at home in their last fixture of 2023.
Juve’s Federico Chiesa was only fit for the bench, and young talent Kenan Yildiz started again, while former Juve player Paulo Dybala returned to action to face his old club, reports Xinhua.
Roma almost broke the deadlock just five minutes into the game when Bryan Cristante’s deflected strike hit the upright. At the other end, Dusan Vlahovic’s attempt was blocked before his acrobatic kick went wide.
Filip Kostic went closer in the 43rd minute, but his volley was cleared off the line by Evan Ndicka with Roma’s goalkeeper Rui Patricio well beaten.The home side tipped the balance of the tie straight after the break as Vlahovic’s smart back-heel flick sent Rabiot clear, allowing him to beat Patricio one-on-one.
Chiesa came off the bench in the 66th minute, and he had the ball into the net before the final whistle, but it was ruled out due to offside.
The slender win moved Juve within two points of the Serie A leaders Inter Milan who tied with Genoa on Friday.
Elsewhere, AC Milan ended their poor home record against Sassuolo with a 1-0 victory, as Christian Pulisic’s second-half goal proved enough despite Ismael Bennacer and Rafael Leao’s goals being wiped out.
Also on Saturday, Udinese ended Bologna’s winning streak with a comfortable 3-0 victory, Atalanta edged Lecce 1-0, Salernitana won Hellas Verona 1-0 away, and Cagliari shared the spoils with Empoli at 0-0. Roma had a chance to equalize in the closing minutes, but Tammy Abraham’s header was saved by Wojciech Szczesny.The win was a major boost for Juventus going ahead in the tournament. (IANS)
