Juventus 3 - 0 Crotone: Finished | 2021-02-22 | Serie A

Goalkeepers	G	GC	SAV
Gianluigi Buffon	0	0	2

Forwards	G	GA	S	FC	FW
Cristiano Ronaldo 38', 46'	2	0	8	1	1
Dejan Kulusevski 76'	0	0	1	2	2

Midfielders	G	GA	S	FC	FW
Weston McKennie 66'	1	0	2	3	0
Federico Chiesa 86'	0	0	2	0	0
Aaron Ramsey 76'	0	1	5	2	1
Rodrigo Bentancur 70'	0	0	0	1	1

Defenders	GA	S	FC
Danilo	0	1	2
Merih Demiral	0	0	1
Matthijs de Ligt	0	1	3
Alex Sandro 86'	1	0	1

Substitutes	S	FC	FW
Nicolo Fagioli 70'(Rodrigo Bentancur)	0	1	2
Federico Bernardeschi 76'(Aaron Ramsey)	1	0	0
Álvaro Morata 76'(Dejan Kulusevski)	1	0	1
Alessandro Di Pardo 86'(Federico Chiesa)	0	0	0
Gianluca Frabotta 86'(Alex Sandro)	0	1	0
Radu Dragusin	0	0	0
Daouda Peeters	0	0	0
Wojciech Szczesny	0	-	-
Carlo Pinsoglio	0	-	-

Goalkeepers	G	GC	SAV
Alex Cordaz	0	3	5

Forwards	G	GA	S	FC	FW
Samuel Di Carmine 76'	0	0	0	1	3
Adam Ounas 72'	0	0	0	0	3

Midfielders	S	FC	FW
Junior Messias	5	0	1
Milos Vulic	2	0	4
Salvatore Molina 71'	0	2	1
Arkadiusz Reca 67'	2	0	0

Defenders	S	FC	FW
Pedro Pereira	0	0	2
Lisandro Magallán	1	3	1
Vladimir Golemic	0	1	0
Sebastiano Luperto 45'	1	0	0

Substitutes	S	FC	FW
Luca Marrone 45'(Sebastiano Luperto)	0	1	0
Andrea Rispoli 67'(Arkadiusz Reca)	0	0	1
Niccolò Zanellato 71'(Salvatore Molina)	0	0	1
Simy 72'(Adam Ounas)	2	0	0
Emmanuel Rivière 76'(Samuel Di Carmine)	0	1	0
Giovanni D'Aprile	0	0	0
Denis Dragus	0	0	0
Jacopo Petriccione	0	0	0
Eduardo Henrique	0	0	0
Luca Cigarini	0	0	0
Gian Marco Crespi	0	-	-
Marco Festa	0	-	-

90'+3'

Juventus return to winning ways with a 3-0 victory over bottom side Crotone. Ronaldo scored twice late in the first half, having also missed a couple of sitters by his standards, before McKennie killed off the match with a third goal with 66 minutes played.

90'+3'

That is all for today's live text coverage. Thanks for joining, goodbye!

90'+3'

Pirlo's side are now up to third and eight points adrift of Inter with a game in hand to play on the leaders. Up next for Juve is a trip to Hellas Verona on Saturday, while Crotone - now without a point in five matches - are at home to Cagliari the following day.

90'+3'

FULL-TIME: JUVENTUS 3-0 CROTONE

90'+2'

Two of the three added minutes have been played at the Allianz Stadium.

90'+1'

Frabotta catches Rispoli with a pretty poor challenge and is rightly cautioned. The Juve substitute has no complaints.

90'

SIMY GOES CLOSE! Crotone are playing some nice football late in the game, though I suppose it counts for little when three goals down. A cross is played into the centre and substitute Simy heads on target for Buffon to make a routine stop.

88'

Ronaldo is pretty desperate for a hat-trick but is running out of time to add to his two first-half goals. He stands over a free-kick 25 yards out and guides it into the stands.

86'

Chiesa is also replaced by Di Pardo as the subs keep coming thick and fast.

86'

Alex Sandro has put in a good shift down the left today and has been replaced late on by Frabotta.

85'

Crotone work the ball forward patiently and Simy has space to get a shot away on the turn, which he drags wide of the target from 20 yards.

84'

Ronaldo holds his run and is eventually picked out by Morata. He works the ball onto his right foot and tries to pick out the far corner with a curler, but the shot is blocked 10 yards from goal.

83'

DOUBLE CHANCE! Bernardeschi shoots over the bar and then Chiesa runs into a sea of bodies when it would have been simpler to shoot from six yards out. That followed some good build-up play from lively substitute Morata.

81'

Juventus have conceded the fewest goals of any side in Serie A this season (19), whilst Crotone have conceded the most (55). Juventus have conceded fewer than 20 goals at this stage of the competition in nine of the last 10 campaigns.

79'

WIDE! Morata has a chance to make an instant impact but sends a shot wide of the far post at the end of a well-worked corner.

76'

Another change for Crotone now as Riviere is brought on in place of Di Carmine.

76'

Morata is given a 15-minute run-out at the end of the game as he takes over from Kulusevski.

76'

That miss will be Ramsey's last involvement in the game. Bernardeschi is brought on in his place.

75'

RONALDO AND RAMSEY DENIED! It really should be 4-0! Ronaldo is let down by a poor first touch when in on goal. The loose ball falls to Ramsey but he is thwarted by a low Cordaz stop.

74'

The ball sits up nicely for Vulic to take on the half-volley from all of 30 yards, but he is well off target with his effort. Crotone require something close to a miracle at this point - not only today but also in terms of avoiding the drop to Serie B.

72'

Ounas has started to look a little tired and has now been replaced by Simy.

71'

Molina is off and Zanellato on in his place as Stroppa makes another change.

70'

Bentancur is given a breather for the final 20 minutes. Fagioli is introduced in his place.

69'

Ounas seems to know the game is up. Rather than carry the ball forward he sends in a tired cross from deep that runs through for Buffon to easily collect.

67'

Reca, who has come as close as any Crotone player to scoring today, is replaced by Rispoli.

66'

GOOOOAAAALLL!!! JUVENTUS 3-0 CROTONE!! Ronaldo is denied by Cordaz when played through on goal but Juve find a way through from the subsequent corner. De Ligt heads the ball down and it bounces into the path of McKennie to blast into the roof of the net.

65'

SAVE! A first real save of the game for Buffon to make as he gets down low to keep out Messias's drive from range. A decent attempt from the Crotone midfielder, that.

64'

Ronaldo appears to be barged off the ball and wants a penalty but the referee is having none of it. The right call - the Juve star seemed to just lose his footing when shooting under pressure from Magallan.

63'

Chiesa is causing Crotone's defenders all sorts of problems. However, he is unable to pull the ball back to the feet of Ronaldo after creating some space for himself.

61'

De Ligt cynically steps across Di Carmine to halt Crotone's attack. A free-kick is given and the Juventus defender is fortunate to avoid a booking.

59'

Ronaldo tries to knock the ball past Magallan but has a bit of a shocker and gives the ball to the opposition. Will Pirlo be tempted to rest the Portuguese for the remaining 30 minutes or so?

57'

Juve forward Ronaldo goes to ground under contact from Magallan in the opposition box but the referee waves away the small penalty appeals.

56'

Kulusevski's cross towards the back post is once again cut out. Juve are not really doing enough to warrant a third goal at the moment, meaning that this contest is not quite over.

54'

Crotone are the 78th different side Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo has scored against in Europe's top five leagues - only Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic (79) has scored against more sides since 2000. Ronaldo has netted against each of the teams he has faced in Serie A so far (18/18).

52'

Kulusevski does brilliantly to get away from Marrone. The Crotone substitute then hauls down his opponent to give away a free-kick in a good crossing position.

45'+5'

Juve were far from their best for the majority of that first half, failing to test Cordaz before their breakthrough goal arrived. Crotone had some promising moments of their own and are not completely out of the game just yet, though they have yet to get a shot on target - that has to change in the second 45.

45'+5'

Juventus take a 2-0 lead into half-time against Crotone thanks to Ronaldo's double. The Portugal international headed in Alex Sandro's cross from the edge of the six-yard box and then did likewise from a Ramsey cross eight minutes later. Having also missed two easy chances, Ronaldo will perhaps be disappointed not to have a hat-trick.

50'

Danilo catches Di Carmine on the boot and is shown a yellow card by the referee.

45'+5'

HALF-TIME: JUVENTUS 2-0 CROTONE

49'

McKennie gets his tackle on Ounas spot on to halt the opposition attacker's penetrative run. In the view of the referee, anyway!

48'

Crotone have made a decent start to the second half. They win a free-kick 45 yards out that is drilled into the box for McKennie to clear.

45'+3'

RONALDO SHOULD HAVE HIS HAT-TRICK! He may have two goals to his name, but Ronaldo has now missed two easy chances. The Portuguese is played in on goal but cannot find the target with a sliding finish.

46'

RESTART! Juventus, boasting a two-goal lead from the first half, get us back under way at the Allianz Stadium.

46'

Crotone have made a change at half-time, with the injured Luperto being replaced by Marrone.

45'+1'

Ramsey has had a pretty disappointing first half, but he was alert to the loose ball and spotted Ronaldo in the middle.

45'+1'

GOOOAAALLL!!! JUVENTUS 2-0 CROTONE!! Ronaldo's powerful drive from 30 yards is pushed to one side by Cordaz. Ramsey gets on the loose ball, sends a cross to the edge of the six-yard box and Ronaldo is there waiting to head past Cordaz for his second goal of the contest.

45'

Messias decides to have a go from 20 yards out, sending a shot high over the crossbar. That will likely be that in terms of the first-half action.

43'

Chiesa brings the ball inside and curls a shot wide. Juve fancy a second goal before the interval.

42'

FREE HEADER! This is a very similar chance to the one Ronaldo put away a few minutes ago! Reca gets away from his marker in the box but guides a header over the crossbar from eight yards.

40'

After a pretty lengthy VAR check, seemingly for an offside call against Ronaldo, that opening goal is allowed to stand. Juventus have a lead to build on with five minutes of the first half to play.

38'

Alex Sandro did well to find Ronaldo's run off the ball from a pretty central position and the superstar forward did the rest.

38'

OFF THE BAR! Chiesa's latest delightful cross is right on the money for Ramsey to head past Cordaz and against the frame of the goal. In fact, replays show Cordaz may have got a slight touch - a great save in that case!

38'

GOOOOAAAALLL!!! JUVENTUS 1-0 CROTONE!! Pirlo's men have stepped things up and have found a way through from their first attempt on target. Alex Sandro's cross towards the edge of the six-yard box is met by the head of Ronaldo and the Portuguese forward picks his spot past Cordaz.

37'

Marrone was ready to come on but Luperto wants to try to run off the injury. We are still yet to see a single shot on target at the Allianz Stadium.

36'

Luperto picked up an injury a little earlier and it looks as though he will be replaced shortly. Marrone has stripped off and is readying himself to come on.

35'

JUST WIDE! Juve work the corner short and it loops into the air for Ronaldo to power a shot goalwards. That effort is blocked but De Ligt gets a cleaner shot away that flashes inches wide.

33'

Yet another counter-attack from Juve, yet another disappointing conclusion as Ramsey's shot deflects behind. He had Ronaldo to his left and probably should have played in the Portuguese forward.

31'

Chiesa's corner is gathered by Cordaz and the Crotone keeper quickly releases. The attack comes to little but that shows the visitors are not here for a draw - they see this as a chance to put three points on the board.

29'

RONALDO MISSES A SITTER! Chiesa knocks the ball past his man and sends in a great cross from the right. Cordaz gets a slight touch to it but Ronaldo should be burying the ball from a few yards out. He fails to adjust his feet and sends his shot wide.

27'

Ronaldo fires the free-kick straight into the wall, possibly against one of his own team-mates. Crotone break and a dangerous low cross is well gathered by Buffon at his front post.

25'

Ronaldo is tripped by Molina 20 yards from the Crotone goal. One guess who is standing over the ball to take the free-kick...

24'

ANOTHER CHANCE FOR RAMSEY! Alex Sandro sends in a low cross from the left and Ramsey attempts to guide it past Cordaz at the near post, but he is unable to find the target. That is two good chances for the Welshman.

22'

Juventus have been incredibly sloppy in possession, with Ronaldo the latest to give the ball away. It has been a much more open match than expected, largely due to Crotone being happy to get at their opponents.

20'

Ramsey loses the ball and, in a desperate attempt to win it back, he completely takes out Ounas. A clear yellow card.

20'

CHANCE FOR RAMSEY! Juve turn over possession and Danilo charges at the Crotone defence. He plays a one-two with Ronaldo and then feeds the ball to Ramsey on his left, but the Wales international skews his shot wide from a good position.

19'

There is a little more urgency to Juve's game now. Ramsey and Kulusevski have both picked up the ball in some space towards the right, though again the final pass is lacking.

17'

Kulusevski brings the ball inside his man down the right but the cross is easily dealt with. Juve have had 65 per cent of the ball but have not done a great deal with it.

15'

Juve are not playing like a side in desperate need of a victory. Pirlo's men have yet to create anything of note against the division's bottom side.

14'

Juventus have won each of their last six Serie A matches played on a Monday, conceding only one goal in the process (in the 2-1 win against Lazio last July).

12'

Chiesa is slipped in down the right. His cross is knocked down by McKennie into the path of Ronaldo, who is unable to get a clean shot away. The ball eventually falls for Kulusevski to miscue off target from range.

10'

McKennie plays a pass from inside his own half that runs right the way through for Crotone skipper Cordaz to collect.

9'

The home team are taking a fair bit of time to find their feet. Crotone have been the better side so far and went close with that Reca shot a couple of minutes ago.

7'

NEARLY! Messias's cross from the right takes a deflection and Danilo slips at the back post, giving Reca a chance to shoot at goal. He sends a volley just wide of the opposition target.

5'

Juve turn over possession high up the pitch. Kulusevski delays playing in Ronaldo and the attack breaks down with Ramsey misplacing a pass on the edge of the box.

3'

Vulic whips a deep free-kick into the box and it is flicked into the air. It could have been an awkward one for Buffon but the experienced keeper gets two hands to the ball, taking out an opposition player in the process.

1'

KICK-OFF! Serie A's bottom side Crotone get us up and running in Turin! Can the visitors pull off a huge upset by picking up just a fourth league win of the campaign?

-

Both sets of players are out on the field at the Allianz Stadium and kick-off is now just a few moments away. Reigning champions Juventus need a victory to close the gap on leaders Inter; Crotone need points to climb off the foot of the table.

-

Juventus are unbeaten in their five Serie A meetings against Crotone, though they have drawn the last two matches, including a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture four months ago. Only once have Crotone avoided defeat in three successive league games against a single opponent - Chievo Verona between 2016 and 2017 (three matches).

-

Crotone also show three alterations from their last match - a 2-1 loss against Sassuolo eight days ago - as Magallan, Molina and Vulic come in for Zanellato, Petriccione and Koffi Djidji. The visitors are expected to shape up in a 3-5-2 formation once again.

-

Pirlo has made three changes to Juve's starting line-up on the back of the defeat to Porto. Veteran goalkeeper Buffon replaces Szczesny for his fifth league start of the season, while Demiral and Ramsey come in for Giorgio Chiellini and Adrien Rabiot, who are not part of the matchday squad.

-

Subs: Giovanni D'Aprile, Luca Marrone, Andrea Rispoli, Luca Cigarini, Marco Festa, Denis Dragus, Gian Marco Crespi, Simy Nwankwo, Emmanuel Riviere, Jacopo Petriccione, Niccolo Zanellato, Eduardo Henrique.

-

CROTONE XI (3-5-2): Alex Cordaz (c); Lisandro Magallan, Vladimir Golemic, Sebastiano Luperto; Pedro Pereira, Salvatore Molina, Junior Messias, Milos Vulic, Arkadiusz Reca; Samuel Di Carmine, Adam Ounas.

-

Subs: Gianluca Frabotta, Carlo Pinsoglio, Wojciech Szczesny, Federico Bernardeschi, Nicolo Fagioli, Daouda Peeters, Radu Dragusin, Alessandro Di Pardo.

-

JUVENTUS XI (4-4-2): Gianluigi Buffon (c); Danilo, Merih Demiral, Matthijs de Ligt, Alex Sandro; Federico Chiesa, Rodrigo Bentancur, Aaron Ramsey, Weston McKennie; Dejan Kulusevski, Cristiano Ronaldo.

-

Crotone have lost four league games in a row, conceding 11 goals in that run and scoring just twice. Giovanni Stroppa's charges are bottom of the table, eight points adrift of safety with this game in hand to play.

-

Juventus lost 1-0 to Napoli last time out in the league and are now 11 points adrift of Inter, albeit with two games in hand to play on the leaders. Andrea Pirlo's men also went down 2-1 to Porto in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie last week, so a big response is required here.

-

Hello and welcome to our live text coverage of the Serie A meeting between Juventus and Crotone at the Allianz Stadium.

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