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Juventus come back twice but still drop crucial points at home to Parma

Danny Lewis
Parma's Adrian Bernabe fights for the ball with Juventus midfielder Khephren Thuram
Parma's Adrian Bernabe fights for the ball with Juventus midfielder Khephren ThuramMarco Bertorello / AFP
Juventus came from behind twice to draw 2-2 against Parma in Serie A, although I Crociati managed to avoid defeat for the second time in seven meetings between the sides.

Parma stunned the hosts inside three minutes when a corner routine saw them work the ball from left to right before Adrian Bernabe crossed to Botond Balogh, who nodded the ball across goal for fellow centre-back Enrico Delprato to power a header of his own past Michele Di Gregorio.

Juventus will feel that they should have had an equaliser in the 13th minute, as Weston McKennie rose brilliantly to meet Timothy Weah’s cross and force an equally impressive save from Zion Suzuki before Dusan Vlahovic wastefully missed the target with his rebound.

Mandela Keita then got across well to deflect a Francisco Conceicao shot behind, but McKennie saw off attention from Balogh to meet Weah’s cross following the ensuing corner and head home the equaliser.

Both teams showed ambition to go ahead as Khephren Thuram glided forward before firing off-target and Bernabe’s cross at the other end bounced agonisingly past the post.

It was Parma who regained their advantage in the 38th minute, as Dennis Man reached Valentin Mihaila’s flick-on ahead of Di Gregorio and waited to cut the ball back for Simon Sohm to finish.

It didn’t take long for Juventus to equalise after the restart, though, as a swift break forward culminated in Weah clinically converting from Conceicao’s cross.

Conceicao then delivered an inviting ball that was headed marginally over the crossbar by Vlahovic, before the Portugal international hit an attempt of his own that whistled over.

There was added intent from both benches with the search for a winner continuing, as Kenan Yildiz’s cross-shot required Suzuki to touch it wide and Gabriel Charpentier hit a threatening strike from range.

With the game stretched, Parma had two brilliant late opportunities but Charpentier and Pontus Almqvist were both denied, as Parma played out the fifth draw from their last six Serie A matches ahead of key fixtures against Genoa and Venezia.

Delprato then cleared Yildiz’s attempt off the line in the final seconds as Juventus were forced to settle for a third draw from their last four league matches, leaving them seven points behind leaders Napoli.

Key match stats
Key match statsOpta by StatsPerform

Flashscore Man of the Match: Enrico Delprato (Parma)

See all the match stats here.