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Juventus hosted Parma at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday night for a Serie A clash. The hosts were coming into this game on the back of a comfortable win against Udinese in the Coppa Italia, while the visitors lost their last match against AS Roma.
In the first half, Juventus, quite expectedly, were dominating possession but weren't really breaking Parma open and carving out any clear cut opportunities. It took some time for the home side to get into the groove and they eventually took the lead, just before half-time, thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo shot that deflected into the back of the net. Parma, on the other hand, didn't really cause any problems for the Old Lady's defence in the first period.
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In the second half, Parma came out with intent and took the game to the opposition, which eventually came to fruition as substitute Andreas Cornelius scored with a header from a corner. But Juventus regained their lead right after that, thanks to another brilliant finish from Ronaldo, who was found by Paulo Dybala.
The hosts then, instead of looking to kill the game, sat back and let the visitors dominate proceedings. Despite creating a number of good opportunities, Parma couldn't find the equalizer and the game ended 2-1 in the Old Lady's favor.
Here, we are going to take a look at the hits and flops from the game.
#5 Hit - Matthijs de Ligt
The only reason why Parma couldn't equalize during their late charge was because of the important interceptions and tackles from Matthijs de Ligt towards the end. It was a great performance from the Dutchman and arguably, his best in Juventus colours.
The youngster won three tackles on the day, along with two interceptions, and two clearances. He won four aerial duels, which was the joint-most in the game and he also had a passing accuracy of almost 91%.
De Ligt hasn't really found life easy in Turin since his switch from Ajax but there are positive signs that can be clearly seen. Slowly but surely, the Dutchman is settling down in the Juventus team.
#4 Flop - Dejan Kulusevski
Dejan Kulusevski didn't have a great introduction at a ground where he will play next season. For those who don't know, Kulusevski is Juventus' January signing who is currently on loan at Parma, and he had a forgettable night in Turin as nothing he tried on the day actually came to fulfillment.
Starting in his favored right-wing spot, the youngster had a lot of opportunities to do what he does best - take a touch, look up and find that killer pass for which he is known for. Unfortunately, the 19-year-old couldn't do that and that is the reason why he was substituted in the second period.
Kulusevski, attacking wise, played two key passes, while defensively he only managed to make two interceptions. All in all, it wasn't his best of performances.
#3 Hit - Andreas Cornelius
Andreas Cornelius didn't start the game for Parma but because of an unfortunate injury to striker Roberto Inglese early on, the 26-year-old Dane came on and although he didn't have much of an impact in the first period, he came into his own in the second.
Firstly, he equalized for the away side with a sumptuous header and then, he was also having a positive impact in the build-up play for the visitors. He was holding the ball quite well for his team during transitions and also won almost every aerial duel against Leonardo Bonucci.
Furthermore, the Danish forward played one key pass on the day and had a passing accuracy of 81.3%, which is not bad for a striker. However, his performance didn't see Parma take anything away from Turin.
#2 Flop - Aaron Ramsey
Another player who has found life difficult in Turin is Aaron Ramsey, who had a forgettable outing against Parma. He was literally anonymous in the game and was rightly brought off in the second half for Gonzalo Higuain.
Although Ramsey found himself in decent attacking situations, he wasn't creating enough on the day, which left his strikers devoid of any service, especially in the first half. Offensively, the Welshman played no key pass and had three shots on goal, with none of them being on target.
Defensively, Ramsey had next to no involvement, which surely wouldn't have gone down well with Maurizio Sarri. The former Arsenal man is clearly struggling in Turin right now and needs to improve.
#1 Hit - Cristiano Ronaldo
The man who turned out to be the difference for Juventus on the day once again was Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored another brace for the Old Lady and to be honest, he was by far Juventus' best player.
While others were looking scratchy, the 34-year-old was on a different wavelength as he was the man doing all the positive attacking work. The first goal on the day displayed Ronaldo's ability to find space and get his shot away, which luckily for him took a deflection and left the Parma keeper with no chance.
The second goal could be credited to his ability to find goalscoring positions. Paulo Dybala found Ronaldo in the box and the Portuguese, without even breaking his stride, almost stroked it into the bottom corner.
Ronaldo is in incredible form at the moment and he couldn't have found a better time to get his goalscoring instincts back as the Champions League knockouts are just around the corner.
Also Read: UEFA allegedly altered their Team Of The Year formation to include Cristiano Ronaldo
