Dybala earned a point at Roma on his return to Turin

Paulo Dybala started a draw with Roma (1-1) on his return to Turin to face Juventus, the team where he played for the last seven seasons and left in June by not renewing. His old fans received him with whistles, although some also applauded him, and the Argentine midfielder, despite his careful performance, assisted Tammy Abraham in the goal that gave the ‘giallorossi ‘ an important point.

Barely two minutes had passed when Dusan Vlahovic pulled a superb free-kick from his hat which, after hitting the crossbar, made it 1-0.

Roma, Betis’ Europa League rivals, did not react to this blow and were at the mercy of a much superior Juventus for an hour whose game had nothing to do with what was on offer the previous day in a disappointing 0-0 against Sampdoria.

The ‘bianconieri’ imposed their aggressive pace and largely dominated midfield, despite the losses of Pogba, Di María and Chiesa as well as Bonucci in defence, and they had chances to extend their lead, as a cross shot by Alex Sandro arrived. out near the post (11′) and another from Cuadrado with a small angle blocked by Rui Patricio (16′).

VAR overruled Locatelli’s 2-0

Juve went 2-0 up in the 25th minute but Manuel Locatelli’s fine goal from the edge of the area was disallowed on VAR’s request for Vlahovic’s handball in midfield at the start of the game.

Dybala was unlikely to be contacted by Roma as Mourinho opted for Nemanja Matic, a defensive court player in a double pivot with Bryan Cristante.

Double change for Mourinho at the break

At half-time, the Portuguese coach made two changes in search of a reaction by bringing on Nicola Zalewski and Stephan El Shaarawy for Leonardo Spinazzola and Gianluca Mancini, who continued to play with a defense of four.

In the first minutes of the second half, Roma continued without a step forward, but Juve were never superior and even gave the impression of contentment with how the match was going.

Abraham equalized in a corner

In the 68th minute, Dybala finally connected with Tammy Abraham, whose shot was blocked by Wojciech Szczesny (68′) and in the next play the equalizer came from a set piece. After a corner kick at the far post, Dybala appeared to put the ball in with an acrobatic volley and Abraham put it into the net (69′).

Roma did not win the 1-1 but the goal exposed the shortcomings that Juve showed last season, with few ideas in attack and unable to create chances against an increasingly solid Roma despite the fact that Mourinho retired Dybala with a quarter of an hour from the end. His old hobby fired him with divided opinion.

Roma, after winning 1-0 in the first two rounds, remain unbeaten and temporarily co-leaders, tied with their eternal rivals Lazio, while Juve, after their second straight draw, are more two points less (5).