Juventus 1-1 Torino: Old Lady denied derby win after Belotti strike

Italy international Andrea Belotti scored in his first start since November to deny Juventus all three points as Torino held them to a 1-1 draw at Allianz Stadium on Friday.

A first-half header from Matthijs de Ligt was cancelled out by Belotti’s equaliser in the second half, leaving the Old Lady eight points behind Serie A leaders Milan having played a game more.

Belotti is out of contract at the end of the season and is expected to leave Torino, but the fans will wish him well if this proves his final contribution to the Turin derby.

Meanwhile, Massimiliano Allegri will not have been impressed with the showing from his side ahead of their Champions League round-of-16 first leg at Villarreal on Tuesday.

Juve suffered a blow before the game kicked off with Daniele Rugani injured in the warm-up and replaced at centre-back by Alex Sandro, with Luca Pellegrini starting at left-back.

Torino made a strong start and would have been ahead were it not for Wojciech Szczesny’s slight touch on a Josip Brekalo cross, taking it away from a waiting Belotti.

However, it was Juve who took the lead on 13 minutes when a looping Juan Cuadrado corner was headed in at the far post by De Ligt, who arrived with a towering leap.

The visitors began the second half well, too, and were level when Brekalo – who was a thorn in Juve’s right side all game – got to the byline and found Belotti, whose close-range shot squirmed under Szczesny’s hand.

It was Torino who pushed for another goal until the final 10 minutes when the hosts finally came back to life, but they were unable to find a winner.