Serie A Result: Brescia 1-2 Juventus Date: 24 September 2019 Venue: Stadio Mario Rigamont
Juventus, who were without Cristiano Ronaldo, secured another come-from-behind victory after defeating Brescia 2-1 to move top of the Serie A standings. Juve lined-up for the first this season without talisman Ronaldo, but Mario Balotelli earned his first team debut for the home side after missing the first four games due to a suspension carried over from last season. Surprisingly, Bresicia drew first blood as early as the fourth minute when Alfred Donnarumma fired past Wojciech Szczesny after getting on the end of Romulo's assist. In an instant, the champions attempted a reply but half-hearted attempts from among others Adrien Rabiot, Sami Khedira and Aaron Ramsey frustrated the Turin giants. Danilo picked up a knock before the 20- minute mark which forced Juve manager Maurizio Sarri to widthrew the Brazilian for Juan Cuadrado. Balotelli nearly doubled the home side's advantage with a powerful free-kick from a long way away, but Szczesny responded with acrobatic reflexes on the half-hour mark. The visitors eventually levelled matters on 40 minutes when miscommunication from a corner saw Jesse Joronen palm the delivery off Jhon Chancellor and into his own net. Juve started strongly in the second half, and had Pauolo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain putting Joronen work with telling blocks from close-range. The Serie A champions completed the turnaround after 63 minutes when Miralem Pjanic volleyed home Dybala's free-kick after the ball fell kindly into his path whilst bouncing off the wall. Juve would then live dangerously near the final 12 minutes and needed the reflexes from Szczesny to keep Balotelli and Daniele Dessena in particular at bay. The champions in the end held on for a second successive come-from-behind victory to go top of the table for at least 24 hours.
