Giovanni Simeone causes Juventus to suffer heavy defeat

Giovanni Simeone only needed 13 minutes of play to score a double, contributing significantly to the defending champion's defeat in round 14 of Serie A.

Juventus entered Sunday’s match on a high after their 3-1 win at Sevilla in the Champions League group stage in midweek. However, that momentum was quickly extinguished by the home team Genoa, who opened the scoring in the third minute and then doubled the lead 10 minutes later.

The owner of the two shots, like two slaps that sent fireflies flying straight to the "Old Lady"'s face, was Giovanni Simeone. The eldest son of the Simone family opened the scoring with a timely opportunity after Buffon had made three brilliant saves in a row. He then made a precise header that scored against Juventus.

Simeone caused Juventus to suffer its heaviest defeat since the start of Serie A this season. Photo: La Presse.

Those consecutive "slaps" paralyzed Juventus in the following minutes, and they conceded a third goal when the match clock had just struck the 29th minute. In a corner kick situation, Luca Rigoni received the ball and fired a cannonball that hit the crossbar, causing the ball to bounce off Alex Sandro's thigh and into the net.

All efforts after that were only enough to help the Serie A champions salvage a bit of honor, with a 1-3 equalizer from Miralem Pjanic's free kick. This is only the third time since the beginning of the season that Juventus has come up empty-handed in their journey to defend their title.

Genoa even did more than Inter (won Juventus 2-1) and Milan (won 1-0) when they defeated the "Old Lady" by two goals. Genoa is also the first team to score three goals against Juventus in the first half of a Serie A match since 2004, when the Torino team lost 3-4 to Lecce.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Juventus had their worst game of the season. In addition to a series of defensive errors leading to three early goals, which negatively affected the team’s morale, they also suffered an injury nightmare. Bonucci was substituted in the 33rd minute, and Dani Alves had to leave the field 13 minutes before the end, after Juventus had made all three substitutions and were forced to play 10 vs 11.

Coach Allegri promises to have a headache because of Bonucci's injury. Photo: La Presse.

Juventus, who are chasing a sixth consecutive Scudetto, have lost three Serie A games this season, as many as they lost in the entire 2015-16 season, and more than they lost in the 2011-12 and 2013-14 seasons. However, despite these disappointing results, Juventus are leading Serie A by four points, ahead of second-placed AC Milan.

For Giovanni Simeone personally, the performance against Juventus not only helped him increase his personal scoring record to four goals in Serie A this season. The double against the defending champion is also a strong affirmation of the talent and desire to advance of the young man who is struggling under the burden of the famous Simeone family name inherited from his father.

Giovanni could have scored a hat-trick in the first half, if not for Buffon's brilliant reflexes to deny another shot from him in the 30th minute. In the second half, although Genoa had fewer chances, Giovanni still gave Juventus a heart-stopping moment when he forced Buffon to work hard to save the goal again.

According to VNE