London: Juventus held 10-man Roma to a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Olimpico to take a major step towards their Serie A title, maintaining a nine point lead over Rudi Garcia’s side.The Italian leaders could have increased the lead, having faced only 10 men for nearly half an hour but couldn’t find an opening to score past Roma’s goalkeeper.
Juventus took the lead when Carlos Tevez stylishly whipped in the free-kick just after the hour-mark after Vasilios Torosidis picked up a second yellow card, the BBC reported. Roma drew level with a header from Seydou Keita but Juventus are closing in on a fourth straight title.
Roma, last champions in 2001, simply struggled to find openings against a Juventus side without key midfielders Andrea Pirlo and Paul Pogba in the Italian capital.The players delayed kick-off by 15 minutes in a show of solidarity towards cash-strapped Parma, who are on the brink of collapse, but when this much anticipated fixture started, neither side registered a shot on target in the opening 45 minutes.
This was Roma’s big chance to cut the gap to six points by inflicting just a second defeat of the season on Juventus, but they failed to do so. Roma manager Rudi Garcia pointed out that what he can say is that they responded magnificently, adding that considering that they were a man and a goal down, to end the game playing the way his side did shows that they are alive and kicking. He insisted that his squad showed immense character.
Meanwhile, Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri said that drawing this game angers them, adding that they haven’t won on the road for three games and it’s now time to get back to doing so. Allegri claimed that considering how the game was panning out and the way his side played it’s a pity to leave here with a point, but added that in the final stages of the game, with Roma’s pressure, they could have even risked losing.
