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Juventus find themselves sitting pretty in second place as they pick up yet another Serie A win, thanks to SPAL. In all seriousness, SPAL did play well, especially in defense, but they were unable to halt the progress of the Turin giants who were playing on home turf.
Maurizio Sarri notably switched up his standard 4-3-3 formation for a narrow 4-1-2-1-2 that had Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala in striking positions. Aaron Ramsey played in attacking midfield with Miralem Pjanic behind him. Pjanic was flanked by Adrien Rabiot and Sami Khedira both in central midfield positions. The backline was led by Leonardo Bonucci, with Matthijs de Ligt beside him. In wingback positions were Juan Cuadrado, right, and Blaise Matuidi. In goal, Gianluigi Buffon was the man in charge.
The Bianconeri's first goal came on the stroke of half-time with a daring Miralem Pjanic shot. A marauding Matuidi was found on the left-wing, but his in-swinging cross was parried out by the SPAL goalkeeper Etrit Berisha. The loose ball met Khedira who laid it on with a first-time pass to Pjanic. The 29-year-old's shot that curled past an outstretched Berisha and entered the left side of the goal.
The second goal finally came in the 78th minute when exciting wing play on the left distracted the Biancazzuri defence just enough for Paulo Dybala to receive a threaded through-pass down the flank. A cross from Dybala on the byline was towards Ronaldo's waiting head. Ronaldo's powerful header was unstoppable for Berisha, hitting the keeper on the way in.
SPAL never looked like winning the game, and their defense may have been strong, but it wasn't strong enough to stop a powerful and creative Juventus attack.
Let's take a look at three players who impressed and two players who performed poorly during the game:
#5 Hit - Miralem Pjanic
Pjanic was a vital cog in Maurizio Sarri's midfield. Making three key passes during the game, he kept up a strong passing accuracy of 91%. The 29-year-old also made 129 touches during the game, the most touches for any player on the field. Apart from this, Pjanic made 114 passes, also the highest from any individual player throughout the game.
He controlled the game in the middle of the park, finding his team members effectively, and helping to maintain the Bianconeri's stronghold on possession. He had a great game, and he would be glad to have topped it up with a sublime goal.
#4 Igor Julio played poorly for SPAL
The 21-year-old youngster did not have a good day within SPAL's defensive line of three players. While other center-backs managed to make clearances and tackles to help the team hold back the force of the Juventus attack, Julio barely did much.
He made no tackles, made no interceptions, and was the only center-back not to block a shot. Asides these, he was also the only center-back to pick up a yellow card. He also was unable to win a single aerial challenge.
His passing, however, was reasonable. He made a few accurate long passes, and kept a passing accuracy of 83%.
#3 Paulo Dybala played impressively for Juventus
It was Dybala's accurate left-footed cross that found Cristiano Ronaldo on the far post and assisted the Bianconeri's second goal. While he was unable to get on the scoresheet himself, Dybala was certainly a thorn in the Biancazzuri's defense.
He took six shots at goal, made two key passes, made three dribbles, and was fouled twice. He also managed a passing accuracy of 86%, much better than Ronaldo's 74%.
The 25-year-old will be glad to have improved under the tutelage of Maurizio Sarri. Last year, under Massimiliano Allegri, Dybala looked like he might be on the brink of an exit from Turin. However, his fortunes may have just begun to turn for the better.
#2 Jacopo Sala played poorly for SPAL
The 27-year-old winger was unable to achieve much during much bigger opponents. Most notably, he had the second lowest passing rate on the entire field (65%) -- only a little higher than Berisha's 63%.
In attack, Sala managed only a shot at goal, but not on target. He was unable to make a single key pass or dribble throughout the 71 minutes he spent on the pitch. Apart from this, he was dispossessed thrice and was caught offside once.
In defense, he was a little more noticed as he aided his team with three tackles and two clearances, but that was really all to his game. It was not much of a surprise when the coach chose to substitute him 71 minutes in.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo was arguably the best player on the field today
The 34-year-old star had yet another good Serie A game with the Bianconeri. He constantly flooded the SPAL defense, only put on hold by SPAL's keeper Berisha who was on top of his game.
When he finally scored towards the end of the game, relief was evident on the face of the former Madrid man. He had taken six shots at goal with five on target, but was stopped nearly every time by Berisha. His header, thanks to a Dybala cross, was simply unstoppable by the Albanian goalkeeper, and he got his name on the scoresheet.
Ronaldo also added to the creativity of his team, adding three key passes to the Bianconeri's game.
