Juan Cabal came off the bench to give Juventus a narrow 1-0 victory over 10-man Bologna at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on Sunday.
Juventus knew a win would lift them above their opponents into fifth place in Serie A, and they were helped by a late red card for Torbjorn Heggem.
Michele Di Gregorio made a stunning double save after just five minutes, pushing away Tommaso Pobega’s effort before rising again to smother Riccardo Orsolini’s tight shot.
Juventus then had a goal disallowed for offside in the 36th minute. Federico Ravaglia rushed out of his penalty area but misjudged the bounce under pressure from Weston McKennie, who struck the ball against Jonathan David in front of an empty net, but he had gone too early before he could slot in.
Nadir Zortea could also have broken the deadlock just before half time, but his drawn shot from the right side of the penalty area rattled Di Gregorio’s crossbar.
Substitute Cabal needed just over three minutes to make an impression. He rose high to meet Kenan Yildiz’s cross and head past Ravaglia in the 64th minute.
Bologna’s hopes of a comeback seemingly ended five minutes later when Heggem pulled back Lois Openda in a desperate last-man challenge, resulting in a straight red card.
Despite having a player advantage, Juve created few chances to double their lead, although Openda was the best, with his low curler on the first appearance superbly kept out by Ravaglia before overcoming a one-on-one chance in the closing minutes.
FT | | The points come home to Turin! @EASPORTSFC#BolognaJuve pic.twitter.com/lrvbpXjphd
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) December 14, 2025
Data debrief: Juventus deserve an outing
Going into this match, Juventus had lost three of their last five away games in Serie A (W1 D1), but not only did they leave Bologna with three points, they also kept a precious clean sheet.
It was far from a vintage performance, however, as Luciano Spalletti’s side had just three of their thirteen shots on target, while Bologna had more (four). Juventus had the higher expected goals (xG) of 1.65 to 0.65 ahead of Bologna.
Of the players who have been directly involved in more than 20 goals in the five major European leagues over the past two seasons, only Lamine Yamal (35, 2007) is younger than Yildiz: 20, (12 goals, eight assists).
Bologna has now gone 23 home games in Serie A without a win against Juventus (D8 L15), a streak dating back to November 1998.
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