04/12/1999 A Good Win For Juve

A brilliant and determined Juve performance that, especially in the second half, turned into a footballing lesson for Bologna. The decisive victory (2-0) enabled Ancelotti’s outfit to keep the top-sport in the league. Filippo Inzaghi was the man who made the difference, scoring his third brace of goals against Bologna at the Delle Alpi in as many matches. It was, however, Zidane who made it all possible. The match got off to a slow start, with Bologna pressing forward from the off but they soon became more cautious allowing Juve to take the initiative. From then on they only came forward occasionally on the break. Signori´s 2nd minute shot didn´t cause too many problems for Van der Sar, although five minutes later the Juve fans had their hearts in the mouths as Iuliano was forced to make a goal-line clearance. Guidolin´s side did little else in the opening twenty minutes or so, giving Del Piero & co. a chance to re-organise themselves. The match then picked up a little when Alex earned a cheer from the fans when he easily side-stepped Paramatti´s challenge and played a delightful one two with Inzaghi, before Ingesson managed to step in and make sure Del Piero got no further. The first real chance came to Edgar Davids who on a ball from Del Piero fired a thunderous strike from outside the area and forced Pagliuca in to making a great save (28th minute). Two minutes later Van der Sar showed that he was equally competent and pulled off a difficult save from a dangerous strike by Ze Elias. In the 38th minute Cesari interrupted the action to calm down a simmering dispute between Davids and Ingesson which threatened to explode in to something much worse with a yellow card apiece. Then, on a cross from Tacchinardi, Del Piero -the best of the Bianconero players- forced Pagliuca to call on all his experience and agility to prevent the home side from taking the lead. Once again, in the final minutes of the half, Zidane´s shot, on a through ball from Del Piero, brings the best out of Pagliuca. The goal wouldn´t have counted anyway as the referee´s assistant had already flagged the Frenchman offside. There was no change to the pattern of play in the opening of the second half. Juventus pressed forward whilst Bologna defended and hoped to play on the break. But Ancelotti’s outfit played with more conviction and ruthlessness than in the first half with Zidane and Del Piero constantly putting the visitor’s defence under pressure. Davids was first to come close but his shot was pushed into touch for a corner. Next Del Piero, fed by Tacchinardi, went on to set up Inzaghi who hit the target from close range. That was in the 55th minute, and predictably the goal brought about noisy celebrations from the fans that had just been invoking Kovacevic’s name. But it was the other striker, SuperPippo, who took confidence from the goal, and just three-minutes later attempted an outrageous shot that finished just wide. Inzaghi was irrepressible, and he doubled the score in the 71st minute, taking his goal tally to seventeen this season with his third consecutive brace of goals at home to Bologna. Much of the credit should go to Zidane who made room for himself on the left, put a ball in for Zambrotta in the penalty area who in turn saw Inzaghi standing in space on the far side. Pagliuca was unable to do anything about it as Pippo slid the ball under him. Only then did Inzaghi make way for Kovacevic, having by then put the result beyond Bologna. But it was Zidane who was the real star of the show. We hadn’t seen him in this type of form for quite a while, although he has been back near the top of his game for almost a month now. Guidolin tried to change things around by bringing on Fontolan and Ventola, but Juventus continued to dictate the pace of the game. The final whistle was greeted with huge applause by the Bianconero faithful who celebrated a well-deserved victory.