Late Goal Exposes Juventus' Weakness
Copyright � 1998 Nando.net
Copyright � 1998 Reuters
ROME (March 4, 1999 10:52 a.m. EST http://www.sportserver.com) - Olympiakos' injury time goal in its 2-1 defeat at Juventus on Wednesday exposed the Italian side's failings this season and put its bid for a fourth consecutive European Cup final appearance in jeopardy.
Juventus controlled the quarterfinal, first leg tie and established a 2-0 lead through goals by Filippo Inzaghi and Antonio Conte.
But six minutes into injury time its defence left goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi hopelessly exposed to a darting run from Alexios Alexandris.
Peruzzi tripped his opponent, Spanish referee Jose Maria Garcia-Aranda pointed to the spot and late substitute Andreas Niniadis tucked away the penalty with the last kick of the match to give the Greek side hope for the second leg.
"Unfortunately, the referee made the right call," said a penitent Peruzzi afterwards. "I saw an opponent, an attacker, coming towards me. I tried to stop him but he was flying and I caught him with my feet."
"And to think I nearly saved Niniadis's penalty, too. I felt the ball brush the tips of my fingers."
Although Peruzzi took responsibility for the Greek goal, the real blame lies with a defence which failed to close down the match in the best traditions of Italian clubs in Europe.
It is hard to imagine the imperious Juventus of the past three seasons conceding a late goal on home turf in so important a European Cup tie.
But the 1998-99 Juventus has been a distracted, careless animal -- a poor cousin of the composed outfit which won the 1996 European Cup final, reached the last two finals and won two Italian championships along the way.
Wednesday's match recalled Juve's penultimate Champions' League match against Galatarsaray in December when the Turks scored a soft equaliser in injury time to force the Italians, for the second consecutive season, to seek help from elsewhere in Europe to qualify for the last eight.
It also mirrored their exit from the Italian Cup in January when Didier Deschamps gave away a 90th minute penalty which was enough to take Bologna through to the semifinals.
Juventus's win did at least extend their unbeaten run under coach Carlo Ancelotti who took over from Marcello Lippi a month ago and has breathed new life into the Turin giants.
Ancelotti will have seen much to encourage him in his side's performance, notably the fine form of Filippo Inzaghi who opened the scoring with a spectacular flying volley.
But even Inzaghi was bitter after the final whistle.
"We deserved more," he said. "The referee signalled four minutes of injury time and the goal was scored after six minutes...We came off the pitch physically and morally destroyed. We didn't deserve this result.
"However, the important thing is we've rediscovered the true spirit of this squad."
Ancelotti turned his ire on the referee.
"We were punished with a penalty given well after the extra time signalled by the referee," he said. "The referee's watch obviously wasn't working properly."
