Juventus 1-0 Roma: 5 Talking Points

Juventus and Roma, two giants of Italian football, faced off on Sunday night hoping to move closer to Napoli at the top of the table. It looked like the game would not see a goal until Paulo Dybala propped up and delivered the sucker punch to guide Juventus home.The game ended 1-0 with the home side running out winners. With this win, they reduced the gap at the top of the table to two points. However, there seems to be no end to Roma’s woes who have won just one out of their last nine league games and sit fifth in the table.Here are the five talking points from the game.

#1 The brilliance of Paulo Dybala

The young Argentine was signed from Palermo in the summer and six months into his Juve career, he seems to completely justify the hefty price tag. The Old Lady lost some key players at the start of the season with the likes of Carlos Tevez, Andrea Pirlo and Artuto Vidal leaving the club. Early on, Massimiliano Allegri’s men were struggling and it looked as if they would not be able to challenge for the title.

However, things have changed drastically in the past few months. A number of spirited performances has resulted in some key victories and Dybala has been crucial in all of them. On Sunday when it looked like the home side were going to lose out on two points, the ex-Palermo man delivered again.

19 - Paulo Dybala has been directly involved in 19 (12 goals and 7 assist) of the 38 Serie A Juventus goals this term (50%). Star.

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) January 24, 2016

Pogba’s pass was clinically dealt with by Dybala who managed to hit the back of the net and give his side the lead on a counter-attack. Dybala holds the key for Juventus and will be crucial to their chances in all competitions that they are involved in this season.

#2 Daniele De Rossi lucky not to get sent off

Matches involving these two sides have often seemed to boil over with players landing punches and committing some silly fouls. On Sunday, the likes of Mario Mandzukic and Daniele de Rossi were at it right from the start.

The Italian World Cup winner was employed as a centre half in this game and put in a good display. However, some might well argue that he should not have been on the pitch for 90 minutes.

De Rossi committed a silly foul which could have resulted in a sending off. There was an off-the-ball clash between him and Mandzukic and replays showed that the former had stepped on the latter’s foot and could well have been given his marching orders.

The foul had resulted in a freekick which Dybala failed to capitalize on. Had De Rossi been sent off, the job for Roma would have become all the more difficult.

#3 Question marks over Alvaro Moratas future

Alvaro Morata was the star of Juve’s brilliant campaign last season. He scored some vital goals to lead them to the Champions League final and also delivered in the league. However much has changed since then.

The Real Madrid academy product has grown frustrated at the lack of chances at Juventus and has also failed to deliver when given the opportunity. He has fallen down the pecking order after having been the mainstay in attack for Juventus last season.

Since the start of the 2015/16 season, he has not played regularly for the team and has struggled for goals. On Sunday, he came on for the brilliant Dybala with five minutes of the game remaining. With his side looking to close out the game, Morata was often isolated up front and did not have any opportunity to attack the opposition goal.

Morata has been the subject of transfer speculation and, with his form dipping big time, the Biancconeri might just let him go.

#4 Spalleti faces a tough task ahead

For the better part of a decade now, the club from the Italian capital have been seen as underachievers. AS Roma have always had the players to do the job but somehow things haven’t really worked out for them.

At the beginning of last season, former-Lille man Rudi Garcia was appointed and he almost delivered in his very first season. Roma made a strong push for the title and, after a very long time, finished second in the league.

The story has been different this time around though. The capital club have struggled right from the start of the season barring a couple of top notch displays. Inconsistent displays resulted in Garcia loasing his job and the Roma executives decided to bring in former manager Luciano Spalleti.

Spalleti had done extremely well with Zenit and Roma before that but has his task is cut out this time. The Italian has earned just one point in his two games so far and faces a tough task ahead.

This is a side which lacks confidence more than anything else and Spalleti has a tough job on his hands to repair the damages and make a strong push for the Champions League places.

#5 Juve juggernaut rolls on

After suffering some early season jitters, the men from Turin have regrouped and managed to get their season back on track. Sunday’s win was their 11^th consecutive victory in the league which has seen them close the gap at the top of the table to two points.

Early on with the departure of some key players, Allegri’s men were taking time to adjust. Pogba, in particular, was struggling to put on his usual displays. The defenders were faltering and the goals were lacking. However, that phase seems to be over for Allegri. Pogba has started to show his class once again and Paulo Dybala finally seems to be putting in performances that were expected of him.

Juventus are in a nice position right now. They are fighting for the league title, playing well in the Cup and are looking to win the Champons League. They are one of the in-form sides in Europe right now and it would take some effort to beat them.