Cremonese 0-1 Juventus: Player ratings as late Milik free-kick wins it
Juventus left it very late to secure a win against Cremonese in Serie A on Wednesday night, but were eventually spared blushes by a stunning late free-kick from Arkadiusz Milik.
The victory, a fourth in a row in the league stretching back to before the World Cup, consolidates the team’s position in the top four – aided by Lazio’s defeat to Lecce.
Juve peppered the Cremonese goal with 19 attempts in total, a number of which were pot shots from distance, but struggled to find a way past goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi.
But it was actually Cremonese who had the ball in the net – twice – first. Emanuele Valeri was adjudged offside before heading over Wojiech Szczesny, while only moments there was a foul in the build up to David Okereke’s strike.
Substitute Federico Chiesa was a spark for Juve after coming on in the second half, although Cremonese again went close to taking the lead when Cyriel Dessers struck the post.
Carnesecchi made a string of saves in the final 20 minutes that looked like it would be enough to secure his team a point – it could and perhaps should have been more but for the fine margins at play – only to see Milik lash one in from distance in stoppage time.
Juventus player ratings (3-5-1-1)
GK: Wojciech Szesny (7); CB: Federico Gatti (7), CB: Gleison Bremer (7), CB: Danilo (7); RM: Matias Soule (7), CM: Nicolo Fagioli (6), CM: Manuel Locatelli (7), CM: Weston McKennie (6), LM: Filip Kostic (7); AM: Fabio Miretti (6); ST: Arkadiusz Milik (7)
Substitutes
Federico Chiesa (7), Moise Kean (6), Adrien Rabiot (6), Leandro Paredes (7), Iling-Junior (N/A)