Hellas Verona 2-1 Juventus: Simeone brace inflicts more misery on Allegri

Giovanni Simeone scored twice as Hellas Verona inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Juventus in Saturday’s Serie A clash.

The in-form striker bagged a quickfire first-half brace – taking his league tally for the season to eight – to put Verona in command at Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi.

Substitute Weston McKennie pulled one back with 10 minutes remaining but could not prevent a second loss in the space of four days for the visitors, who were also beaten 2-1 by Sassuolo in midweek.

Following a fourth straight home win, Verona move above Massimiliano Allegri’s men on goal difference into eighth place.

15 – Since Igor Tudor became the Verona manager, only AC Milan and Napoli (19 each) have gained more Serie A points than Hellas (15). Fire.#SerieA #VeronaJuventus pic.twitter.com/gD3ZiQEZsN

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) October 30, 2021

Igor Tudor has overseen an upturn in Verona’s fortunes since replacing Eusebio Di Francesco in September.

Indeed, no side has since scored more Serie A goals than the Gialloblu, who took the lead after just 11 minutes.

Simeone, who netted four times against Lazio last time out, slotted home after Wojciech Szczesny parried Antonin Barak’s initial effort.

The forward grabbed his second in emphatic fashion just three minutes later, latching onto Darko Lazovic’s pass before arrowing a wonderful 25-yard strike into the top corner.

It was the 15th goal Juve had conceded in their opening 11 matches, the first time they have done so during a Serie A season since 1961-62.

The visitors looked to respond before the break, Alex Sandro drilling into the side-netting while Paulo Dybala clipped the top of the crossbar.

Juve improved in the second half and pulled a goal back in the 80th minute, McKennie controlling Danilo’s fizzed pass before firing home off the underside of the crossbar.

It then took magnificent reflexes from Lorenzo Montipo to deny Dybala later on as Verona held out for another impressive win.

What does it mean? Verona resurgence continues

Verona recorded a fourth win in eight games under Tudor, who won two Serie A titles and reached the Champions League final with Juve between 1998 and 2005.

The Gialloblu are now unbeaten in four matches against the Bianconeri, who remain 13 points behind leaders Napoli.

Simeone shines

With two goals from three shots on target, the Verona striker is now the joint-top scorer in Serie A this season, alongside Ciro Immobile.

The striker also became only the seventh player in the history of the Italian top-flight to score two or more goals against Juve for three different sides, having also achieved the feat with Genoa and Cagliari.

Rabiot struggles

The former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder was unable to make his mark on the left wing.

Indeed, his tallies of 24 touches and 18 passes were the lowest recorded by any Juve starter. He was substituted after just 57 minutes, having also won just over a third of his duels.

What’s next?

Juventus will look to bounce back when they host Zenit Saint Petersburg in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Verona travel to leaders Napoli next Sunday.