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Roma made it 15 games undefeated at the Stadio Olypico after goals from Manuel Locatelli and Eldor Shomurodov saw them draw 1-1 with top four rivals Juventus.
I Giallorossi came into the game in flying form, undefeated in their last seven as the recently reinstated head coach Claudio Ranieri has sparked a late push for a place in the Champions League, a competition Roma haven’t competed in since 2019. Juventus were aiming to make it two in two under new interim head coach Igor Tudor following the departure of Thiago Motta.
Tudor made two changes from the side that beat Genoa in a tight 1-0 victory, with Federico Gatti out with a leg fracture. He was replaced by Pierre Kalulu, while Teun Koopmeiners dropped to the bench for Timothy Weah, allowing Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez to play further forward alongside Kenan Yıldız. Ranieri also made two changes, with Stephan El Shaarawy and Zeki Çelik replacing captain Lorenzo Pellegrini and Alexis Saelemaekers.
Despite both sides making a couple of changes to the starting 11 before the match, neither were able to get on the front foot from the get-go as possession and half-chances were split fairly equally. Roma though they made the breakthrough in the 25th minute through midfielder Bryan Cristante, who came storming into the box but his low shot was blocked expertly by Pierre Kalulu to deny the home side the lead. A minute later, the Roma veteran entered the book.
The action remained hectic as Juve almost immediately responded Cristante’s chance by breaking away on the counter-attack though in the 27th minute later, as Nicolas Gonzalez planted a free header towards the top left-hand corner, but Belgian ‘keeper Mile Svilar was equal to the effort and marvellously tipped the header off his right post and away.
Dusan Vlahovic remained lively in the first half, and had a great chance present itself to open the scoring in the 32nd minute when a free kick just outside the box was awarded his side’s way, only for the Serbian for smash the free kick straight into Svilar’s chest. The Old Lady wouldn’t have to wait too much longer for their goal though, as Manuel Locatelli came surging onto the end of a Zeki Çelik clearance in the 40th minute before slamming the ball home on the volley into the bottom left-hand corner.
Half-time saw the first changes of the game where Ranieri moved Matías Soulé to right wing-back, as Mats Hummels departed the cation for Eldor Shomurodov. The Italian was almost immediately payed off for his tactical tweak, as a spilled Michele Di Gregorio save from an Evan N’Dicka header found the Uzbek striker who tapped it into an open net from close range for his fifth goal of the season.
His strike partner Artem Dovbyk looked like he was going to put Roma into the lead on the hour mark, leading a dangerous three on two attack. The Ukranian, who has failed to hit the heights he did for Girona last season in his first season in Italy, failed to find a team-mate though and eventually sent a low shot straight at Di Gregorio.
Ranieri made more changes in the 61st minute, replacing Stephan El Shaarawy and Bryan Cristante with January acquisition Lucas Gourna-Douath and Leandro Paredes. After Juventus made three changes of their own in the 68th minute, with the likes of Randal Kolo Muani and Teun Koopmeiners entering the frey, it was the Frenchman Gourna-Douath who would get a major chance in the 71st minute, running onto a lose ball in behind the Juve defence and baring down on goal. His compatriot Pierre Kalulu was on hand at the last moment to intervene, preventing what would have been a major chance for the home side.
After this, both sides would make many more changes with Victor Nelsson, Nicolo Savona and Tommaso Baldanzi getting minutes in the last 20 minutes of the game, but neither side were able to push ahead for the go-ahead goal and spoils were shared at the former Stadio dei Cipressi.
Roma will look to make it 16 unbeaten in the Derby della Capitale against bitter rivals Lazio next Sunday evening, while Juventus return to Turin to host Lecce next Saturday evening.
