Szczesny Heart Scare In Juventus Victory Over Sporting CP
Sporting CP arrived in Turin with the expectation that they would continue their excellent Europa League campaign and cause an upset, yet Juventus were able to rally and secure a 1-0 victory.
Whether that will be enough to carry them into the semi-final is another matter entirely, but the hosts certainly played well enough on the night.
With domestic crises engulfing the club as they await a possible second points deduction for financial irregularities, the hosts turned to Federico Gatti to score the decisive goal for the Old Lady.
Gatti an unlikely scorer
A defender by trade, Gatti wasn’t the first name you would have considered to open the scoring for the Bianconeri.
Much of the early pressure came from the Portuguese side, with Hidemasa Morita testing Wojciech Szczesny from distance.
The Polish goalkeeper was then forced off through injury just before half-time after suffering from chest pains.
Pedro Goncalves went close with another shot from distance after the break, handing Mattia Perin an early test after he was introduced in place of Szczesny.
Juventus’ goal came as a result of a scramble inside the penalty area and a rebound pinged into the path of Gatti, who smashed the ball into the net from close-range.
Morita almost equalized in injury-time with a close-range header, however it squeezed just wide of the right post.
