Juventus 2-2 Salernitana: Three see red in dramatic finale

Juventus came from two goals down to earn a 2-2 home draw against Salernitana in a game that saw three red cards dished out after a potential winner for the hosts was ruled out by VAR deep into stoppage time.

Antonio Candreva scored against his former team to put Salernitana in front, before Krzysztof Piatek rifled home a penalty to give the visitors a 2-0 lead at half-time.

Bremer's powerful header cut the visitors' advantage and Leonardo Bonucci scored the rebound from his own missed penalty to equalise in the 93rd minute. 

There was more drama to come, though, as Arkadiusz Milik thought he had netted a 94th minute winner, only for it to be chalked off by VAR for offside. Before that, he received a red card for his celebrations, while Juan Cuadrado, Salernitana's Federico Fazio and Juve head coach Massimiliano Allegri were also dismissed for their roles in a massive melee on the pitch.

The visitors took a shock lead after 18 minutes when impressive work from Pasquale Mazzocchi down the left led to him picking out Candreva at the back post, who bundled the ball into the back of the net.

Salernitana made it 2-0 in first-half injury time after a penalty was given for a Bremer handball, Piatek stepping up to stroke the spot-kick into the bottom right corner.

Bremer halved the deficit six minutes after the interval, when he sent a brilliant header crashing into the back of the net, but it took until the 93rd minute for Juventus to find an equaliser.

Tonny Vilhena felled Alex Sandro in the box, and though Bonucci’s initial penalty was saved, he slammed home the rebound to make it 2-2. 

Juventus thought they had won the game when Milik headed home from a corner, but the goal was ruled out for offside, and the striker received a second yellow card for his celebration despite the goal not counting.

Cuadrado and Fazio were then sent off for a scuffle, while Allegri also saw red for his part in the commotion, before the referee eventually blew his whistle to end the chaotic proceedings.

What does it mean? Juventus leave it late

Juventus dominated the game with 61.1 per cent of the possession and 22 shots compared to Salernitana's 11, but it took until injury time for them to level the game up.

They remain unbeaten in Serie A and are in eighth place in the table, while Salernitana stay in 10th. The result meant Allegri's men crucially lost pace with Napoli, Atalanta and Milan, who are all unbeaten and sat joint-top on 14 points.

Prominent Paredes

The midfielder pulled the strings for the hosts in just his second Serie A appearance for the club since his arrival from Paris Saint-Germain, completing 83 of the 85 passes he attempted.

He also led his team in touches (96) in exactly the type of performance Allegri would have had in mind when bringing the Argentina international over from France.

Vlahovic not at his best

The striker had previously been involved in a goal every 45 minutes played on average against Salernitana in Serie A, but he blanked in this one.

He had numerous attempts to score but could not execute any of his five shots while being caught offside four times, as it was left to the two centre-backs to find the crucial goals.

Key Opta Facts

- Juve have drawn a Serie A home match after trailing by two goals for the first time since November 2011 vs Napoli (411 league games ago).

- Juve received two red cards in a Serie A match for the first time October 2015 vs Roma.

- Candreva is the first visiting player to score in two consecutive games at the Allianz Stadium since Ante Rebic in 2021.

- Since the start of the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the top scoring central defender in Serie A (12).

- Bonucci is the sixth defender to score in 10 consecutive Serie A seasons, after Giacinto Facchetti, Agostino Di Bartolomei, Alessandro Renica, Pietro Vierchowod and Paolo Negro.

What's next?

Next up for Juventus is Champions League action as they host Benfica on Wednesday, while Salernitana's next outing comes against Lecce in Serie A on Friday.