Juventus 1-1 Bologna: Player ratings as Vlahovic saves Juve against 9-men I Rossoblu
A 95th minute equaliser spared Juventus' blushes on Saturday at home to nine-men Bologna.
The visitors had taken in the lead at the start of the second half through Marko Arnautovic, before seeing two men sent off during one dramatic VAR incident in the 81st minute.
Dusan Vlahovic would then salvage a point for Juventus in the final moments of the game, heading home at the back post to make it 1-1.
Juventus' front three started the game brightly, and two almost combined inside the opening 10 minutes to give the home side the lead. Alvaro Morata swung a delightful cross into the near post area, but Vlahovic's subsequent header on goal flew just over the crossbar.
Four minutes later the other member of the front three Paulo Dybala - who is a target for Inter - came close via a free kick. The forward looped the ball over the wall from 25-yards out and just wide of the top right corner of the net.
That dominance surprisingly petered out after that Dybala effort, as Juve largely struggled to get at a solid Bologna defence. The only notable effort on goal between the 15th and 45th minute was a long-range sighter from Danilo...which tells you all you need to know.
La Vecchia Signora came out at the start of the second half with a similar lack of energy, and almost conceded in the 47th minute. Arnautovic turned brilliantly in the penalty area but watched his resulting shot on goal fly just past the foot of the post.
That Arnautovic effort seemed to wake Juve up a bit, with the home side creating their best chance of the game thus far moments later. The chance would fall to Adrien Rabiot who, from about two-yards and with the goal gaping, was unable to turn a Luca Pellegrini cross into the net.
Juve were made to rue that missed opportunity in the 52nd minute, as Arnautovic grabbed his 12th goal of the season to give the visitors a shock lead. The former West Ham man stole in behind the Juve defence to latch onto a through ball, before rounding Wojciech Szczesny and side-footing home the opener.
The home side pressed forward with renewed intent after going behind, with a Danilo header from a corner kick miraculously not nestling in the net after hitting the inside of the left post.
After making a few subs however that intent seemed to subside once again for a solid 20 minutes as Bologna were able to gain a bit more of a foothold again and hold Juve off with relative ease.
Then all hell broke loose in the 80th minute. Morata, after being played through on goal, was chopped down just outside the penalty area before he could have a strike on goal. The referee opted to play on, allowing Juan Cuadrado to have a strike on an empty goal - which he missed.
After a short deliberation with VAR on the touchline, the referee gave Juventus a free kick right on the edge of the box, sent off Adama Soumaoro for the challenge on Morata and sent of Gary Medel for his complaints at the decision.
We did tell you that 'all hell broke loose'.
The resulting free kick was fired over the crossbar by Vlahovic.
In the 95th minute, Vlahovic finally restored parity for Juventus. The ex-Fiorentina man bagged his 50th Serie A goal by stealing in at the back post and head home an overhead kick from Morata.
Juventus player ratings - Serie A
1. Juventus (4-3-3)
GK - Wojciech Szczesny - 4/10 - Couldn't do much about the Bologna goal.
RB - Mattia De Sciglio - 4/10 - Not a bad player all in, but just lacks quality on the ball in the final third.
CB - Matthijs de Ligt - 3/10 - Caught napping by Arnautovic and subbed off with an injury on the hour mark. Not ideal.
CB - Giorgio Chiellini - 5/10 - Much better than De Ligt.
LB - Luca Pellegrini - 5/10 - Worked up the left flank quite well and created a great chance for Rabiot at the start of the second half.
CM - Juan Cuadrado - 2/10 - So obviously not a central midfielder. If anything tells you that Juve need to invest in a few central midfielders, then it's Cuadrado playing as a central midfielder.
CM - Danilo - 4/10 - The best of the midfield three. Hit the post with a great header, and generally worked hard off of the ball too.
CM - Adrien Rabiot - N/A - His terrible Juventus career continues.
RW - Paulo Dybala - 2/10 - Surprisingly sloppy on the ball. The forward clearly has one foot out of the door at this point.
ST - Dusan Vlahovic - 6/10 - Zero quality service for about 99.9% of the game...and his Juve career in general. During that 0.01% of the game however he bagged a goal.
LW - Alvaro Morata - 5/10 - Just a bit hopeless until the 95th minute, and then he set up the equaliser with an overhead kick. Yes, odd game for Morata.
SUB - Leonardo Bonucci - 4/10 - Came on and didn't have too much to do defensively.
SUB - Denis Zakaria - 5/10 - Why did he not start?
SUB - Federico Bernardeschi - 3/10 - He really shouldn't be at Juventus beyond this season.
SUB - Alex Sandro - N/A.
SUB - Moise Kean - N/A.