ROME - Juventus scored three goals in seven second-half minutes to complete an astonishing comeback and beat AS Roma 4-3 on Sunday after goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny saved a late penalty to keep them in front at the Stadio Olimpico.
Tammy Abraham put José Mourinho's side in front and Paulo Dybala made it 1-1 going into the break, but goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Lorenzo Pellegrini put Roma in charge early in the second half.
Juve fought back as Manuel Locatelli and Dejan Kulusevski scored within two minutes of each other, and Mattia De Sciglio fired home a fourth in the 77th minute.
“We are happy for a very important win, especially for how it came about," De Sciglio told DAZN. “We started the second half very badly, but our character showed at a difficult moment. But we need to see that from the start.”
Roma were awarded a penalty after Matthijs de Ligt was shown a second yellow for handball with nine minutes remaining, but Szczęsny guessed the right way to save Pellegrini’s penalty in front of a stunned home crowd.
Wojciech Szczęsny with a massive save for Juventus pic.twitter.com/EqmjBmhpiP
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) January 9, 2022
Jose Mourinho did not enjoy that penalty pic.twitter.com/FG1ynflL7s
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) January 9, 2022
Juventus moved up to 38 points in fifth place, six points ahead of eighth-placed Roma.
"We were in complete control for 70 minutes. The team played really well, controlling the game," Mourinho told DAZN. "We wanted to press high up and take control of the game. It was very good for 70 minutes, then there was a psychological collapse.”
A frantic start set the tempo for the 90 minutes ahead, as Abraham headed home his fourth goal in four games from a corner.
Who else but Tammy Abraham?
2 goals in 2 games for Roma's No. 9️⃣ pic.twitter.com/lbDtPy4vAr— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) January 9, 2022
Dybala curled in an unstoppable strike to draw Juve level, but the visitors were dealt a blow when winger Federico Chiesa limped off.
Paulo Dybala made that look easy pic.twitter.com/DX7vriGqkC
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) January 9, 2022
Roma looked to have the game in the bag when Mkhitaryan’s deflected shot looped over Szczęsny and Pellegrini curled an exquisite free kick into the top corner within eight minutes of the second half starting.
48' ️
53' ⚽Lorenzo Pellegrini is on fire pic.twitter.com/ffaJ1qSfSO— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) January 9, 2022
Juventus have struggled for goals this season, mustering just 28 in 20 games ahead of their trip to Rome, but they turned on the style to mount an unlikely comeback in an extraordinary seven-minute period. Locatelli was left unmarked to head in before Kulusevski fired home a rebound to equalize, although the Swede’s goal was only given following a VAR review after initially being disallowed for offside.
Morata with the skill and cross
Locatelli with the finishComeback on for Juventus pic.twitter.com/cFcaUroAu3
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) January 9, 2022
De Sciglio pounced on a careless Chris Smalling header to fire home Juve’s fourth, but their hard work was almost undone when a VAR review showed De Ligt had blocked an Abraham shot with his arm, resulting in a second booking for the Dutchman.
3 GOALS IN 6 MINUTES.
JUVENTUS TAKE THE LEAD pic.twitter.com/lfLuU5AISv— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) January 9, 2022
Roma captain Pellegrini was tasked with the spot kick, but his low shot was saved.
(Reporting by Alasdair Mackenzie, editing by Pritha Sarkar)