Serie A: Juventus held at Crotone as Chiesa sent off on debut

Federico Chiesa was given the marching orders on his Juventus debut as Juventus came from behind to settle for a 1-1 draw against Crotone on Saturday.

Alvaro Morata celebrates Juventus' 21st-minute equaliser against Crotone.

Juventus winger Federico Chiesa was sent off on his debut and the Serie A champion also had a goal disallowed by VAR for offside by the tiniest of margins as it was held to a 1-1 draw at promoted Crotone on Saturday.

Chiesa, signed from Fiorentina during the recent transfer window, was given a straight red card for a studs-up challenge on Luca Cigarini on the hour before Alvaro Morata's goal was chalked off after a three-minute delay because his heel was offside.

Juventus was missing Cristiano Ronaldo after he tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday while Gianluigi Buffon, its second choice keeper, became the first player to make 650 Serie A appearances.

Crotone started well and Simy put it ahead after 12 minutes, the Nigerian sending 42-year-old Buffon the wrong way from the penalty spot after a foul by Leonardo Bonucci on Arkadiusz Reca.

Chiesa provided an assist for Juve's equaliser nine minutes later as he ran on to Dejan Kulusevski's through ball and laid it off for Morata to score from close range.

Pedro Pereira tested Buffon again just before the break while Manolo Portanova was denied by Alex Cordaz at the other end.

Juve's evening began to unravel with Chiesa's dismissal. The 22-year-old lifted his studs dangerously as Cigarini came into tackle him and was immediately sent off amid Juve protests.

 

Morata then saw his header hit the inside of the post before having what he thought was the winner chalked off.

Juan Cuadrado weaved his way past two defenders and his weak shot was deflected in by Morata but VAR officials disallowed it to the delight of the 1,000 fans allowed into the ground.

Seven minutes of stoppage time were added but, by then, Crotone seemed happy with the draw.

It was Juventus' second draw of the season where it was reduced to 10-men as head coach Andrea Pirlo lamented his side's carelessness.

 

“Unfortunately, in the last two matches we have been reduced to ten men due to our carelessness so we had to battle through. But we are a young team that needs more work,”  Pirlo.

Pirlo was handed his first coaching role in August after Juve sacked Maurizio Sarri and said he had still had little time to work with his team which includes several young new signings such as Chiesa, Dejan Kulusevski and Weston McKennie.

“We have worked very little in these first few months, the players have been on the national team and the youngsters need to gain experience playing these first games,” he said.

“So there are going to be moments of carelessness, it happens -- we have a young, quality team which is still under construction, so we need time and the youngsters need to make mistakes. We haven't had time to oil the machine.”

Juventus, chasing a 10th straight title, has eight points from four games and has dropped four behind leader AC Milan.

“We knew there would be many teams fighting for the title, it will be a battle day-by-day,” Pirlo said. “We have to pick up points. Unfortunately we are losing some on the road but we will be back in front soon”.