For Alessio e Riccardo

Not one to do anything without a little controversy, Juventus escaped from Bologna with all three points after Uruguayan Marcelo Zalayeta scored a contentious goal in the second half. Not only were the Bianconeri awarded a dubious goal, but the home team were denied a strong penalty shout in the first half. Bologna president Alfredo Cazzola seemed to channel a stadium full of supporters when he said that "We've had enough of this type of refereeing."

Didier Deschamps' team were perhaps a little lucky, but he didn't seem all that bothered by it. He had this to say after the match:

"It's very difficult to have a clear view of anything in Italian football. Perhaps that's easy for me to say after a win, but it is a contact sport and not easy to see certain moves clearly. As for the play, we took the initiative and held it throughout, while we had the most important goal scoring opportunities. Bologna are certainly the most complete squad in Serie B and they caused us a few problems, but we never really ran risks. It was a difficult game as we were well aware of the qualities of this Bologna side...they're in great physical and mental shape at the moment. At the beginning we were forced to defend deep and our wingers were unable to get involved in the game. In the second though, we commanded the game and created a number of chances. At Napoli and Genoa we conceded after going ahead. Tonight that didn’t happen so we're definitely improving in that respect."

The result leaves Juve tied for first with a game in hand. They're even with Napoli, Genoa, and Bologna on 31 points. The extra game, a postponed match against Cesena, will be played on January 16th. Their next match is Friday when they host Tuscan side Arezzo.

-ac