Juventus wins Turin derby but in trouble
The "Old Lady" paid the price for the 1-0 win over Torino in round 25 of Serie A with the injury of main striker Gonzalo Higuain, last night, February 18.
Goal: Sandro 33'.
Alex Sandro's first-half goal secured all three points for Juventus, briefly taking them top of the table before Napoli beat SPAL. The Brazilian defender was in the right place to tap the ball into an empty net from Federico Bernardeschi's cross.
Bernardeschi replaced Gonzalo Higuain with just 15 minutes gone. The young Italian dribbled past Torino defenders before setting up Sandro for the goal.
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Juventus will be in big trouble if Higuain is seriously injured. Photo: AFP |
Higuain suffered an ankle injury in the third minute as he attempted to beat the offside trap to receive a pass from Miralem Pjanic. In this situation, goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu rushed out very quickly, leading to a collision. Higuain lasted 10 minutes before having to leave the field.
The Argentine striker's injury could spell trouble for Juventus if he misses the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Tottenham on March 7. Higuain scored both goals for Juventus in the 2-2 draw in the first leg at home.
After the match, coach Max Allegri said Gonzalo had a slight injury and would probably be fine in the next few days.
Paulo Dybala played the final 25 minutes of yesterday's game, his first appearance after weeks out through injury, which was a relief to Allegri. "Paulo played well for 30 minutes. I'm happy with his performance, as well as the others. It was a good result against a well-organised Torino team," he said.
During the minutes on the field, Dybala had the opportunity to face the goalkeeper in a counter-attack but could not finish successfully.
