Hulked-up keeper denies Juventus in Derby della Mole draw

OK, this is getting ridiculous.

Just days after settling for a Champions League point against Sporting CP in large part because goalkeeper Rui Silva went absolutely bonkers and denied what looked to be certain goals, forcing them to settle for a draw, it was deja vu all over again for Juventus in Saturday’s first running of the Derby della Mole.

This time it was Alberto Paleari auditioning for the role of Gianluigi Buffon. Paleari — who is Torino’s second-choice keeper under normal circumstances — made a string of fantastic saves over the course of the match, ultimately preserving a point for the visiting side and preventing Juve from keeping up with the leaders.

It was a deeply frustrating night for Luciano Spalletti’s men. The gold-star night for Paleari was the latest in a string of matches in which Juve were thwarted in front of goal by a keeper that was playing the game of his life.

The ultimate result? A scoreless draw that for the most part flattered Torino, and showed that there was still work to do before the team was well and truly back.

Spalletti had good news in the form of Khéphren Thuram and Dusan Vlahovic, both of whom shrugged off knocks to make the matchday squad, but was still missing Gleison Bremer, Lloyd Kelly, Juan Cabal and Arkadiusz Milik. Spalletti continued to use the 3-4-2-1 formation that he’d begun to favor so far in his Juve tenure. Michele Di Gregorio anchored a defense that included Pierre Kalulu, Daniele Rugani, and Teun Koopmeiners. Weston McKennie and Andrea Cambiaso sandwiched Manuel Locatelli and Thuram in midfield, while Francisco Conceição and Kenan Yildiz supported Vlahovic in the attack.

Torino manager Marco Baroni was suspended for Saturday’s contest. Assistant Leonardo Coulcci filled in on the touchline, and took care of a 3-5m-2 setup in front of Paleari. Ardian Ismajili, Guillermo Maripán, and Saúl Coco were arrayed in front of Palieri. Marcus Pedersen and Valentino Lazaro played out wide, flanking Nikola Vlasic, Cesare Cassadei, and Ivan Ilic. Giovanni Simeone and Cyril Ngonge were the tip of the spear.

Juve’s first dangerous shot came after only about 45 seconds of regular season play. After Thuram made a tackle and continued upfield, Yildiz ultimately got the ball into the middle of the field, but Locatelli’s strong shot from range was deflected out of bounds.

The game wore on, and Juve attempted more and more shots from distance to test Paleari. Locatelli had a shot blocked as a national holiday on Guy Fawkes Day wore on, then Palieri somehow managed to make a double intervention, punching a cross from the left only to be confronted with Thuram lining up a powerful effort art goal. The Italian managed to recover just enough position to get himself in front of the ball and keep it out.

As the half wore on the chances were few and far between, especially for the Ferengi. With four minutes left in before the break Conceição hit a beautiful cross-field shot that Paleari got fingertips to to push past the post, although referee Luca Zufferli didn’t catch it, defusing the pressure Juve had piled on up to that point. By the end of the half they had maintained 73 percent of possession, but didn’t have the goal to show for it.

Simeone very nearly put Torino ahead against the run of play right out of the restart when he took a long pass and had a free charge at goal. As Diego’s boy charged in and slotted home after some poor defending that allowed him straight through, the flag went up — he had been WAY offside. Ismajli made a last-ditch block on a shot from Yildiz that prevented an easy tap-in. Some more awful defending came from Federico Gatti, who had come on at halftime, and Che Adams took full advantage, only being denied by Di Gregorio’s left hand.

Jonathan David and Edon Zhegrova were introduced shortly the hour mark, and both were denied getting onto the stat sheet within moments of coming on. David really should’ve ended his drought with a goal, but Paleari got a hand out to stop him in a goalmouth after a scramble just above the 6-yard box. Zhegrova was nearly in the assist column the next minute, lifting a gorgeous cross into the box that McKennie found with a bullet header only to be once again repelled, this time at point blank range.

Paleari made a pair of saves against Yildiz within two minutes of each other, and both sides made changes to try to get a victory as the second period played out. The last real chance came halfway through stoppages, when Loïs Openda once again had a shot deflected by a bare touch that referee Zufferli once again misjudged and awarded a goal kick instead of a corner. One last heave into the box by Zhegrova was headed into the air and caught by Palieri, and the whistle blew on a derby that had struggled to get out of the gates.

Source: Sports Yahoo