Goalscorers Orban & Conceicao highlights in drab affair

Verona battled hard to a 1-1 draw with Juventus this evening, as the Gialloblu put an end to the Bianconeri’s 100% start to the season.

Verona goalscorer Gift Orban was Football Italia’s Man of the Match, despite spirited displays from Francisco Conceicao and Rafik Belghali.

The scoreline is a fair reflection of the match, even if Igor Tudor may feel a little hard done by, given his side maintained around 75% of the possession.

Verona 1-1 Juventus – Player Ratings

Verona: Montipo 6.5; Nunez 6.5, Nelsson 6.5, Frese 6; Bradaric 5.5, Akpa Akpro 5.5 (Niasse N/A), Serdar 6, Bernede 5.5, Belghali 7 (Kastanos N/A); Nascimento 5.5 (Sarr 6), Orban 7.5

Best Verona player: Gift Orban – After an impressive yet goalless performance in his debut in Monday’s match against Cremonese, the Nigerian has opened his account with Verona from the penalty spot. Although it was a questionable decision, the forward took responsibility and put the ball int he back of the net. The forward was a constant threat, shooting from a variety of ranges throughout the match.

Lowest Verona rating: Nascimento – The young Brazilian forward had a game to forget, constantly being got the better of by his marker. The forward was weak in the air, was dominated on the ground and made hardly any impact before he was taken off around the hour mark.

Verona coach: Zanetti 7 – The coach set up well to counter Juventus’ effective 3-4-2-1. By working with a five-man midfield, Akpa-Akpro sitting behind a typical four-man midfield, the Veronese were able to nullify a lot of the Bianconeri’s threat in the middle of the park where they are especially dangerous. Zanetti also made the right subs to help defend the game in the closing stages.

Juventus: Di Gregorio 6.5; Kelly 6.5, Gatti 6.5, Kalulu 6; Joao Mario 5.5 (Zhegrova N/A), Locatelli 6 (Koopmeiners 5.5), Thuram 6.5 (Adzic 6), Cambiaso 6; Yildiz 6, Conceicao 7.5 (David 6); Vlahovic 5 (Openda 6

Best Juventus player: Francisco Conceicao – On his return from an injury suffered on international duty with Portugal, the tricky winger impressed. He scored the Bianconeri’s opener and was dangerous throughout his seventy minutes on the pitch. The Bianconeri looked far less dangerous without him – the Portuguese forward showing lots of confidence in taking on his man.

Lowest Juventus rating: Dusan Vlahovic – Whilst Joao Mario was also massively underwhelming today, it is the Serbian who struggled. He was given the spot in the starting eleven as a reward for his fine form but he seems a different player when coming off the bench. The forward was limp and hardly touched the ball before being taken off just before the hour mark.

Click here to read article