A controversial Paul
Pogba goal settled the
Derby della Mole as
Juventus secured a 1-0
triumph over Torino at the
Stadio Olimpico on
Sunday.
The France international
headed home a rebound
from close range after
Carlos Tevez had nodded
Leonardo Bonucci's flick
onto the bar, with replays
suggesting that the
Argentine striker was in an offside position when he met the
ball.
Juventus dictated the tempo in a drab first half, with
Claudio Marchisio coming closest on the stroke of half-
time with a low drive, but in the second half they turned
their possession into a decisive goal thanks to Pogba's
intervention, moving them level with Napoli at the top of
Serie A on 16 points prior to Roma's game with Bologna.
Torino started with the league's joint-top scorer Alessio
Cerci leading their line, while Juventus restored Tevez to
the starting XI after he was rested for the 2-1 victory over
Chievo on Wednesday.
The Bianconeri controlled the early possession but failed to
create any clear-cut chances.
They almost found a breakthrough in the 14th minute when
Sebastian Giovinco wriggled through several challenges on
the right before delivering for Tevez, but the danger was
snuffed out by a last-ditch clearance from Danilo
D'Ambrosio.
As the hosts began to settle they won a series of set-pieces
and they almost capitalised in the 26th minute when Cerci
curled his 25-yard free-kick into the side netting.
Antonio Conte's side continued to look more threatening on
the ball, however. Stephan Lichtsteiner's effort from
distance curled wide before Juve could have stolen ahead
in first-half injury time when Marchisio's 20-yard driven
effort went narrowly wide of Daniele Padelli's post.
The visitors' pressure did not let up in the second half and
Giovinco should have put Juventus ahead when a neat
touch by Tevez left him one-on-one with the goalkeeper
but he hit a tame effort straight at Padelli.
But Juventus deservedly took the lead in the 54th minute.
Bonucci headed a corner goalwards and Tevez somehow
managed to head against the crossbar from two yards but
the resultant rebound was nodded home by Pogba.
However, television replays suggested that Tevez may have
been in an offside position when he met the defender's flick
on.
Marchisio was lucky not to receive his marching orders 10
minutes later when he lunged into a tackle on Giuseppe
Vives when already on a yellow card as the match began to
spark a litte more into life.
The hosts had a penalty shout waved away when Ciro
Immobile went to ground under Giorgio Chiellini's challenge
but referee Paolo Mazzoleni was unmoved.
Juventus almost grabbed a second in the 84th minute when
Mirko Vucinic guided a back-post volley goalwards but
Padelli parried away the danger, while substitute Alexander
Farnerud came close to meeting a cut-back for the hosts in
the final ten minutes.
Despite a late flurry of pressure, Torino were unable to find
that elusive equaliser, meaning their 18-year wait for a win
against their city rivals goes on.
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