Juventus got back to winning ways with a comfortable win over Serie A’s bottom-club Salernitana courtesy of goals from Paulo Dybala and Dusan Vlahovic.
After their humiliating exit from the Champions League at the hands of Villarreal in midweek, this was the perfect fixture for Massimiliano Allegri’s side and they were ahead after just five minutes.
Dybala, whose creativity was sorely missed on Wednesday, showed great feet in the box turning inside a defender and then driving inside the near post.
The lead was doubled a minute before the half-hour mark when Vlahovic rose highest in the six-yard area to head home Mattia De Sciglio’s cross.
There was not a great deal of drama from this point onwards, with the Turin giants confident the three points, which keep them within seven of leaders AC Milan, was already in their possession.
TALKING POINT
Exactly what they missed in midweek – Former Juventus coach Fabio Capello criticised Massimiliano Allegri for not bringing on Paulo Dybala until after Villarreal went ahead in the Champions League clash on Wednesday. Although his 60 minutes today shows he was not capable of a full game, it is easy to see where the former England coach is coming from, with Massimiliano Allegri seemingly saving Dybala for extra time. In a tie they expected to win, Juve should have been in front of at half time against the Spaniards, but were out of ideas long before the opener 12 minutes from time. The Argentine star should have been brought on around the hour mark to give the attack impetus and judging by today’s performance, the Bianconeri know they could well be in the last eight of Europe’s premier domestic competition if they had.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Paulo Dybala (Juventus) – He will play many better matches, but with his team-mates undoubtedly shell-shocked after their 3-0 reverse on the same field four days ago, he ensured the crowd would not get restless by showing his class early on. As well as his goal, he almost made it two with an impudent lob and should have added an assist when Vlahovic fluffed his lines after a neat turn and square ball. As good as he is, the best thing might be how much better he makes the players around him.
PLAYER RATINGS
Juventus: Szczesny 6; De Sciglio 7, De Ligt 7, Chiellini 6, Pellegrini 7; Cuadrado 7, Danilo 6, Arthur 6, Rabiot 7; Dybala 8*, Vlahovic 7.
Subs: Rugani 6, Morata 6, Bernadeschi 7, Kean 6, Miretti 6.
Salernitana: Sepe 7; Mazzocchi 6, Gyomber 7, Fazio 6, Ruggeri 6; Zortea 6, Radovanovic 6, L. Coulibaly 6, Perotti 6; Bonazzoli 6, Djuric 6.
Subs: Ederson 6, Verdi 6, Ribery 6, Mikael 6, Coulibaly 6.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
5′ GOAL FOR JUVENTUS! Lovely feet from Dybala in the box before he slots home inside the near post. Dare I say, this is what was missing in midweek. Vlahovic’s sidefoot directed him towards the by-line but with one touch he was back inside the defender and then the next touch saw the ball in the net.
23′ DYBALA SETS UP VLAHOVIC – A lovely turn in the box and the Argentine star squares to Vlahovic but his first touch is poor and the keeper can close him down.
29′ GOAL FOR JUVENTUS! Vlahovic is on the scoresheet. De Sciglio with a fine cross from the left flank and the ex-Fiorentina striker got up highest in the six-yard box to head home.
75′ FINE STOP FROM SZCZESNY! Bonazzoli latches onto Djuric’s head down and launches a vicious left-foot volley which the former Arsenal keeper stops, diving to his left.
