Mistakes in defense and attack cost Juventus against Parma, says Motta

TURIN, Italy: Juventus made too many mistakes at the back and in front of goal, according to manager Thiago Motta, which proved costly as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Parma on Wednesday and dropped to fourth in the Serie A standings.

For the second game in a row, Juventus had to come from behind to salvage a point, and while Sunday’s 4-4 draw with Inter Milan could be seen as a deserved point, failing to beat Parma on home turf was exactly the opposite.

“I think we conceded too many restarts today. On their goal kicks we tried to get the defender out so we could put pressure and make a mistake, but that didn’t work,” Motta told broadcaster DAZN.

“We made a lot of mistakes in the defensive phase.”

Dusan Vlahovic was guilty of missing a glorious chance inside the six-yard box, and Motta saw mistakes in several parts of the pitch.

“We have to have balance and control of the match. Today we did well until the last two meters, but in the end we have to do better,” said Motta.

“We created danger through the counter-attacks and we must continue like this. But we must improve by bringing our team into the opponent’s half, by finishing and not letting the opponent restart.”

In the draw at Inter, Kenan Yildiz came off the bench to score the two goals that leveled the match, but the Turkish forward was one of the substitutes against Parma, replacing Timothy Weah and almost scoring an extra-time winner.

“Weah played well at San Siro and scored again today,” Motta told Sky Sports.

“Kenan, who comes later, with a more open game, is an ideal player to create situations. He has freedom in the last meters, it was normal today to want to open things up against such a closed team.”