Juve's domestic woes continue in 1-1 draw at Venezia

Juventus’ domestic problems deepened as it was held at relegation-threatened Venezia to 1-1 in Serie A on Saturday.

Published : Dec 12, 2021 08:09 IST , MILAN

Juventus' Italian forward Moise Kean (C) fights for the ball with Venezia's Italian defender Marco Modolo (L) during the Italian Serie A match between Venezia and Juventus at the Pier Luigi Penzo Stadium in Venice.

Juventus’ domestic problems deepened as it was held at relegation-threatened Venezia to 1-1 in Serie A on Saturday.

Mattia Aramu scored in the second half for Venezia to cancel out Álvaro Morata’s opener.

Juventus qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League as a group winner midweek. But it has been a different story in Serie A. Saturday’s draw left Juventus 10 points below league leader AC Milan, which visited lowly Udinese late.

Juventus is also in trouble off the field as it is being investigated for false accounting. Coach Massimiliano Allegri has said he and his players are not being distracted by that.

“We played well in the first half, applying ourselves tactically, creating several chances and also finding the goal. At the beginning of the second half, however, we had a blackout," Allegri said. "I’m disappointed.

"We cannot return to Turin satisfied this evening because we have lost two more points on the road.”

The Bianconeri were six points below fourth-placed Atalanta, which had a game in hand.

Venezia inched six points above the drop zone after ending a run of three straight losses with a significant result for the promoted side.

It conceded eight goals in its past two matches and let slip a three-goal lead to lose 4-3 against Hellas Verona last weekend.

“The team responded to a difficult moment, we were coming off a hefty defeat and we responded as a team,” Venezia coach Paolo Zanetti said. “This is a golden point.”

Juventus started well in Venice but took an early blow when forward Paulo Dybala limped off injured in the 12th minute.

It took a deserved lead in the 32nd minute when Luca Pellegrini crossed in from the left for Morata to flick in at the near post. It was the young left back’s first assist for Juventus.

However, Juventus sat back too much, and Venezia levelled 10 minutes into the second half as the Bianconeri failed to clear danger on the edge of the area and the ball came through to Aramu, who fired into the bottom left corner.

Venezia almost turned the match around five minutes later, but Thomas Henry’s effort went just past the left post.

Venezia goalkeeper Sergio Romero performed heroics moments later with a fantastic save to keep out an attempt by Federico Bernardeschi from close range.