Hellas Verona 2-2 Juventus - Adrien Rabiot scores leveller but Juventus drop more points in chaotic draw at Verona

A vital point gained for Hellas Verona meant a further two dropped by Max Allegri’s Juventus in an entertaining 2-2 draw, as their title hope slipped even further out of sight.

Juventus are now four games without a victory and nine points off the pace set by Inter.

The home side looked far from the relegation fodder that their league position would indicate they are, having the better of the chances in the first half, and going ahead with a volley worthy of champions from Michael Folorunsho.

Juventus’ equaliser, 17 minutes later was fortuitous. A venomous shot from outside the box hit Jackson Tchatchoua inside the box, and referee Marco Di Bello deemed it to have been his hand that unnaturally blocked it, awarding a penalty straight away. Juve top scorer Dusan Vlahovic, back from a game out, made no mistake from the spot.

The second half saw a repeat of the first, with Noslin putting the home side ahead again seven minutes in, standing up to some firm tackles to slot home a great opportunity presented to him by Suslov.

They were caught napping just moments later, though, as Juventus went straight up the other end to equalise for a second time through Adrien Rabiot.

Despite the blow Verona continued to press, make and take chances, while Juventus stuck to a simple counter-attacking strategy that produced little.

The home side held out to the final whistle, to earn themselves a result that might not claw them out of the relegation zone, but certainly brings them closer to safety. Juventus, for their part, must be wondering how they can buy a win.

Mathematically, the result against Verona means Juventus have only seen their title hopes diminish by a fraction. Psychologically, it must feel like far more, as rarely did they look like beating relegation candidates, let alone resemble champions. We are at the stage of the season where "games left" and "points per game" are increasingly the stats that matter. We have also reached the period where the title outcome is no longer in Juve's hands. Not only must they maximise their own tally, they must rely on Inter to stumble. The former will require a degree of mental strength that was completely AWOL on Saturday evening.

Verona were robust front to back, and the player of the match accolade could as easily go to a midfield dynamo or hard tackling defender. But the player that set Verona on the path to their valuable point was the one who created a miraculous goal from whole cloth early in the first half. That 'worldy' helped his team to believe they could claim something against the title contenders, ensured they would fight to the final whistle to do justice to a volley that will be replayed beyond the end of the season. Folorunsho himself ran ragged, and made space for team-mates, contributing indirectly to Noslin's goal.

VERONA: Montipo 7, Tchatchoua 6, Magnani 6, Dawidowicz 5; Cabal 7, Silva 7, Duda 6, Lazovic 6; Folorunsho 8, Suslov 7; Noslin 7. Subs: Swiderski 5, Belahyane 6, Vinagre 6, Coppola 6, Henry 5

JUVENTUS: Szczesny 6; Danilo 7, Rugani 6, Gatti 6, Cambiaso 7, McKennie 7, Locatelli 6, Rabiot 7, Kostic 6; Vlahovic 7, Yildiz 6… Subs: Sandro 6, Chiesa 6, Alcaraz 5, Milik 5, Weah 5

11’ - Goal for Verona! Verona take the lead with a world class strike from Folorunsho. The corner floated across and found on the outside of the box, where he let rip with a volley into the top left corner. Nothing Sczcesny could do about that one.

27’ - Penalty to Juventus! Handball given against Tchatchoua. Verona might well feel hard done by, as from the replay it looked like Kostic's shot hit his knee.

14’ - Goal for Juventus! A rocket to the right from Vlahovic, that's how you take them.

52’ - Goal for Verona! Fouls galore in the lead-up to that but Suslov managed to find Noslin running into the box before he went down, and the Dutch striker slotted it home beneath the body of Szczesny.

56’ - Goal for Juventus! Sloppy sloppy defending from Verona, immediately after going ahead. Juventus pass the ball across the box too easily, with Locatelli finding Rabiot who takes a sweet swing and finds the net.

After a run of five wins in a row, Juventus have only picked up two points from their last four matches.

More to follow...