After 15 appearances, Teun Koopmeiners finally scored his first Juventus goal, but it was not enough as the Bianconeri were held to yet another draw in a frustrating 2-2 stalemate with Bologna.
In truth, things could have been much worse for the Turin side, their squad still ravaged by injury ahead of this encounter. Despite Vasilije Adzic, Nicolò Savona and Dusan Vlahovic all returning to the squad, Juve were still without Arek Milik, Gleison Bremer, Juan Cabal, Nico Gonzalez, Douglas Luiz and Weston McKennie.
Those problems were compounded early on here too when a Dan Ndoye effort was charged down by Andrea Cambiaso after just six minutes, leaving the defender requiring treatment from the physio.
How Bologna dominated Juventus for over an hour
Unquestionably one of Juventus’ best players this term, Cambiaso attempted to play on, but would ultimately be replaced, leaving Thiago Motta’s side without yet another key figure. Bologna took full advantage, Ndoye seeing another effort hit the frame of the goal, then a Juan Miranda free kick was somehow deflected onto the roof of the net by Tim Weah all inside the opening 25 minutes.
Soon after, Jens Odgaard sprinted to chase a long ball only for Pierre Kalulu to clip his heels, the latter only avoiding a red card because the Bologna man did not have control of the ball when the incident occurred.
It ultimately didn’t matter as moments later Emil Holm's pass split the Juve defence and Ndoye met it perfectly, thumping the ball into the roof of the net to hand the Rossoblu a deserved lead.
Juve had a handful of half chances, but as the whistle blew for half time, there was little doubt as to which side was firmly in control. According to figures from WhoScored.com, Bologna – despite being away from home – had enjoyed 52.1% possession while barely giving their hosts a moment to relax.
Whatever plans Thiago Motta made at half time were spoiled by the Coach himself as he was shown a straight red card for dissent and Bologna would double their lead just moments later.
A clever flick from Santiago Castro went between Federico Gatti’s legs and sent Tommaso Pobega through on goal, the AC Milan-owned midfielder lofting the ball over a helpless Mattia Perin.
Teun Koopmeiners finally scores for Juventus
Yet somehow going 2-0 down saw Juventus finally spark into life. Good work from Francisco Conceicao released Danilo down the right, the Brazil international’s ball picking out Koopmeiners who fired into the roof of the net from 12 yards.
That led to a scrappy last thirty minutes as Juve went in search of an equaliser and Bologna did everything they could to interrupt any flow they may have found. Samuel Mbangula went down way too easily looking for a penalty, but then ultimately grabbed a point for the home side when his curling effort found the top corner in stoppage time.
That means Juve have now been held to draws in nine of their 15 Serie A games, currently on a run of seven stalemates in their last nine games, with Koopmeiners demanding more from his side immediately after the final whistle.
“I think we should always play the way we did in the last 20 minutes, when we are aggressive, pushing forward, pressing and doing more,” he said in a post-match interview with DAZN.
“It is not enough for us to only do that for 20 minutes, we need to do more. The players must feel the responsibility to always be at that level. We saw in the last three or four games that we conceded in the latter stages, we must feel ourselves constantly fired up and ready.”
The Bianconeri will be hoping that the Dutch international – who was named in the Serie A Team of the Season last term for his displays with Atalanta – takes his own advice, turning in one of his best performances here and netting a long overdue maiden goal for the club.
According to WhoScored, Koopmeiners laid on no fewer than five clear cut scoring opportunities for his team-mates against Bologna, also contributing three tackles and a clearances.
Juventus need this to be the spark that reignites his form and that Teun Koopmeiners begins to resemble the man they paid €51.3 million ($53.95 million) for back in the summer.