Juventus were crowned Serie A champions for the seventh season in a row on Sunday evening, after grinding out a 0-0 draw with Roma.
After a first half of few opportunities, Juventus thought they'd taken the lead early in the second period of play, as Paulo Dybala's emphatically finished half volley was rightfully ruled out for being offside. Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan was sent off midway through the second half, after picking up two yellow cards in quick succession.
The visitors dug in and ground out the point they needed, before emphatically celebrating their league title win.
Juventus looked to dominate the match from the off, and neatly worked the ball around their defence and midfield amid the chorus of boos from the Stadio Olimpico faithful. Roma had the first chance of the game within the first ten minutes, as Lorenzo Pellegrini found Edin Džeko unmarked at the back post, who ballooned his effort over the bar from ten yards out.
The visitors stabilised, and began to put the Roma defence under pressure with a fast, attacking style of play. As the first half reached its midway point, Cengiz Ünder saw a drilled effort blocked by the Juventus defence, before Alessandro Florenzi launched a speculative shot over the bar as the opposition's sturdy defence continued to prove frustrating.
As half-time approached, Pellegrini launched a low drive towards goal from the edge of the area, and a deflection off Blaise Matuidi's ankle saw the ball fly just wide of Wojciech Szczęsny's goal. Aleksandar Kolarov came close to giving his side the lead soon after, as his whipped free kick went narrowly wide of goal - nestling into the side netting.
After a drab first half, both sides looked to kick things up a gear in the second period of play. Juventus thought they'd taken the lead in the 47th minute, as Dybala broke through the Roma defence to latch onto a Federico Bernardeschi through ball, but the sweetly timed half-volleyed effort was rightfully ruled out for offside.
Kolarov then drew a comfortable save from Szczęsny, as his powerful effort was hit directly at the Polish international. The former Manchester City man then had another effort dip narrowly over the Juventus crossbar, with a deflection taking the ball off course and perilously close to goal. Federico Fazio's header from the resulting corner was comfortably stopped by Szczęsny.
Radja Nainggolan was then sent off in the 67th minute, after picking up a second yellow card in quick succession for a wild challenge of Dybala. Roma being reduced to ten men and the introduction of Juve's Douglas Costa brought the game to life, as the visitors looked to capitalise on their opponents' misfortune.
68' - Red card. Radjais adjudged to have fouled Dybala on the edge of the box - and the referee shows him a second yellow card as a result.#RomaJuve 0⃣-0⃣
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) May 13, 2018
As the game ticked into the final ten minutes, Costa whistled an effort over the crossbar from distance. Knowing a point would be enough to seal the league title, I Bianconeri shut up shop, and focused on their defensive discipline. Dybala had an appeal for a penalty late on, but Juan Jesus was deemed to have played the ball.
Neither side were unable to find a winner, and the draw saw Juventus crowned the Serie A champions once again. Roma will go into the final match of the season needing to equal or better Lazio's result to guarantee their third place finish, but can't finish lower than fourth and will automatically qualify for next season's Champions League competition.
- 90Min