Ten-man Juve stifled by Cesena
Saturday, March 12, 2011
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Reduced to ten men for over half the game following Marco Motta's 43rd-minute dismissal, Juventus let slip a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw away against struggling AC Cesena.
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Juventus were held to a 2-2 draw away against AC Cesena after failing to protect a two-goal lead and playing over half the game without Marco Motta following his 43rd-minute red card.
Desperate to halt their run of three consecutive Serie A defeats, the visitors made an excellent start when Alessandro Matri finished at the far post from an Alessandro Del Piero pass on 19 minutes. The January signing then took his tally to five goals with his new club when he headed in the rebound (35) after Del Piero had shot against the woodwork.
The Bianconeri nonetheless began to unravel four minutes before the interval when Luis Jiménez finished from the spot after goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon had impeded Marco Parolo. Worse followed when Motta received a second yellow card moments later and, sensing their chance, Cesena ramped up the pressure after the break. They finally levelled when Parolo finished from ten metres out with ten minutes remaining, that goal lifting the hosts a point clear of the bottom three. Their opponents remain seventh, four points shy of AS Roma.
