'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The Serie A title race might just not be over yet with leaders Juventus being held to a 3-3 draw away from home by Sassuolo on Wednesday night. Second-placed Atalanta are now just 7 points behind the Old Lady with 5 games left to be played.
Sassuolo overturned a two-goal deficit created early in the game by Juventus as they made an astonishing comeback against the reigning Serie A champions.
But the visitors managed to salvage a draw with an equaliser just 10 minutes after Sassuolo had taken the lead. It was a closely-contested game until the final whistle.
Juventus escape from the jaws of a defeat at the Mapei Stadium
Juventus started the game with great intent, as the visitors scored 2 goals in the first 12 minutes. Right-back Danilo opened the scoring as he converted Miralem Pjanic's corner with a perfectly-placed strike from the centre of the penalty box. Pjanic grabbed another assist 7 minutes later as Gonzalo Higuain doubled their lead with a shot into the bottom left corner.
Sassuolo's number ten Filip Djuricic equalized in the 29th minute when he finished a brilliant team move for the hosts. Just after half-time, Sassuolo turned the tie upside down with two goals within the space of three minutes as Domenico Berardi and Francesco Caputo stormed past the Juventus back-four to give the hosts a shocking lead.
Alex Sandro saved Juventus the blushes as he equalised for them with a header following a corner from Rodrigo Bentancur. Despite being the ioutsiders coming into this fixture, Sassuolo went all in even after Juventus equalized as they tried to clinch a historic victory at home.
But the efforts went in vain as a complacent Juventus side somehow held onto the 3-3 draw away from home. Here are the player ratings for the Bianconeri after another stutter for the defending champions.
Wojciech Szczesny - 7/10
The Juventus stopper had an unusually busy game in goal this time around. He faced constant turbulence in the penalty box due to the rapid movements of the Sassuolo forwards. He made 7 important saves in the game but was let down by his defenders and leaked three goals.
Danilo - 8/10
Danilo probably had his best game in the Juventus shirt since arriving from Manchester City. The right-back made 4 interceptions and was a brick wall on the right flank as he was only dribbled past once in the entire game. His goal in the 5th minute completed a balanced performance, both from a defensive as well as offensive point of view.
Matthijs de Ligt - 5/10
Even though the Dutch centre-back was invincible in aerial duels, De Ligt lost possession 7 times in his own half. Though it didn't have serious repercussions, these were some serious mistakes by the 20-year-old defender which could have cost Juventus the game on any other day.
Giorgio Chiellini - 4/10
Chiellini was the weakest link in the Juventus back-four as the experienced Italian international had a game to forget on Wednesday. The 35-year-old did not attempt a single tackle in the match and was caught up in poor positions for the entire 46 minutes that he played through. He was replaced early in the second half due to an injury.
Alex Sandro - 8/10
It was the night of the full-backs for Juventus as, alongside Danilo, Alex Sandro too made the right kind of impact on the game. The left-back won 7 of his 8 duels during the game and it was only the feather to his cap as his goal-line clearance stole the show on Wednesday night.
The Brazilian also scored the last goal of the game as his effort helped Juventus to earn 3-3 draw against an inspired Sassuolo side.
Rodrigo Bentancur - 6/10
Bentancur had a decent game overall. The midfielder had a poor first half where he misplaced the majority of his passes but compensated for the same in the second half as he created a few opportunities for Bernadeschi to slide in behind the Sassuolo defence. But his most important contribution was his assist for Alex Sandro from a corner-kick routine.
Miralem Pjanic - 8/10
The Bosnian regista, who has already secured his transfer to FC Barcelona for the next season, proved his worth to the Old Lady with his two assists 12 minutes into the game. Pjanic also had an 89% pass success rate which was excellent compared to most of the Juventus midfielders who lost possession multiple times in the centre of the park.
Blaise Matuidi - 4/10
The World Cup-winning midfielder was poor, both in his defensive duties as well as his offensive contributions. He lost 4 of his 6 ground duels in the game and had a really difficult time trying to mark Domenico Berardi who put up a man-of-the-match performance for Sassuolo. Matuidi didn't contribute much to the Juventus attack too.
Federico Bernadeschi - 7/10
Bernadeschi was solid on the right flank and gave Giorgos Kyriakopoulos a really hard time as he successfully managed to dribble the past the left-back on all 3 attempts. The Italian also had an unreal 100% passing success rate, which was key to all the Juventus' movements in the final third.
Gonzalo Higuain - 6/10
The Argentine finished a brilliant through ball by Miralem Pjanic in the 12th minute to double Juventus' lead. But apart from the goal, the striker had no real contribution in the game as he failed to close down the Sassuolo defenders which led to the free passage of play for the home team.
Cristiano Ronaldo - 4/10
Cristiano was far from even a shadow of his real self in the game. The Portuguese legend was Juventus' worst player on the pitch as his shots went way off target on two really big occasions. Also, he couldn't dribble past the Sassuolo players even once during the game. It was one of the worst performances from Ronaldo in a long time.
Substitutes
Daniele Rugani - 4/10
Rugani replaced Chiellini just a minute into the second half. The centre-back was even more abysmal than Chiellini as he lost possession 6 times near his own penalty area and this resulted in Berardi and Caputo capitalizing on the Italian's mistakes and scoring 2 goals in quick succession in the second half.
Adrien Rabiot - 6/10
Rabiot was brought on by Sarri to replace Pjanic as the Italian coach pushed for more goals and put it beyond the hosts. But the French midfielder couldn't make any sort of an impact on the game as he couldn't dictate the tempo of the game in the centre of the field.
Paulo Dybala - 7/10
Though Dybala didn't have any goal contribution in the game, his introduction gave Juventus the much-needed pace in the front-three. The Argentine didn't see a lot of the ball though as Sassuolo controlled the game for the majority of the period since he was brought on to replace Higuain.
Douglas Costa - 7/10
Costa did exactly what was required of him in the final third. Alongside Dybala, he was a livewire whenever the Brazilian was in possession. The winger had a 93% passing success rate and also successfully dribbled past the opposition defenders multiple times during the game.
Aaron Ramsey - 5/10
Ramsey was the last change by Sarri as the Welshman replaced a shambolic Blaise Matuidi in the 81st minute. Ramsey had no impact on the game whatsoever as the damage had already been done by Sassuolo. There was no hint of creativity nor any energetic contribution from the midfielder during his 15 minutes on-field. He even picked up a yellow card in stoppage time.
