Nedved Hands Juve Last Gasp Draw At Roma
12/01/2002.
Four days after the match against Deportivo La Coruna, Juve completed another
great comeback and grabbed a 2-2 draw at the Olimpico against Roma.
The Giallorossi played a great match and took a 2-0 lead in the first half
thanks to goals by Totti and Cassano, but Del Piero and Nedved struck back to
give Juve a precious draw.
Roma's huge will to win this match looked evident right after the starting
whistle. The Giallorossi put a big pressure in the middle and forced Juve to
commit many turnovers, one of which allowed the hosts to take an early lead.
In the 13th minute, Emerson recovered a ball in the middle and supplied Lima,
whose cross was superbly exploited by Totti: chest, head and accurate
left-footer that found the net to the left of Buffon.
The guests reacted promptly, creating a couple of good chances with Nedved,
whose shot was well saved by Antonioli, and Del Piero, who missed an easy
deflection on a cross by Thuram.
Juve's pressure continued throughout the central part of the first half, but
Capello's men defended their lead with a huge determination and tactical
care, preventing the guests from creating further chances.
Actually, it was Roma who went close to the 2-0 in the 33rd minute: at the
end of a superb play, Totti supplied Emerson whose back-heel piece of magic
failed to find the net courtesy of a crucial deflection by Ferrara.
This chance boosted the hosts, who increased their pressure in the last 10
minutes and scored the second goal two minutes before halftime with Cassano,
who took profit of a wonderful back-heel pass by Totti to double Roma's lead.
Quite surprisingly, and after risking the capitulation on a shot by Cafu,
Juve managed to score their first goal right before the double whistle with
a header by Del Piero off a Camoranesi corner kick.
This goal was a big disappointment for the hosts, who were convinced to take
their double lead into halftime.
However, Roma didn't seem to suffer this blow in the first part of the second
half, as Juve's predictable ball possession didn't create any problems to
Capello's tight midfield.
In the 57th minute Lippi gave his team a more offensive attitude, replacing
Camoranesi with Zambrotta, but even with their 3-3-1-3 lineup the Bianconeri
struggled to find room inside the opponents' box.
Only a terrible defensive mistake by Zebina in the 70th minute allowed Juve
to create a huge chance for the equalizer, but Antonioli was great on a shot
by Di Vaio.
In the 78th minute another mistake, this time by Montero, allowed Emerson to
shoot at goal only to see Buffon top his effort over the bar.
Two minutes later, a fantastic recovery by Zambrotta prevented substitute
Batistuta from netting the 3-1.
As the game moved towards the final whistle, Juve unexpectedly managed to
score the equalizer with a superb left-footer by Nedved.
The final part of the match was very nervous.
Three players were ejected, namely Candela, Birindelli and Totti, but besides
this unnecessary tension nothing major happened until the final whistle.
Andrea Rosselli
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