September 26, (THEWILL) –Â Former Serie A champions Juventus got their first Serie A home win of the season when they defeated Sampdoria 3-2 at the Allianz Stadium in Turin. Although the second consecutive victory by that scoreline, it remained an unconvincing performance overall even if that will matter little to Massimiliano Allegri, who will appreciate the full points.
Yet, even he will worry over the injury to Paulo Dybala, as the player exited the pitch in tears, and also the muscle problem of Morata, immediately casting a shadow over proceedings and dampening the excitement of the victory given their significance to the entire squad’s progress and the UEFA fixture in midweek.
THEWILL recalls that the Bianconeri got to chalk off a first Serie A victory in midweek, when they struggled to hold on to a 3-2 comeback at Spezia that, like Sunday’s result, was on the verge of ending in another draw. By the time it finished, Adrien Rabiot joined Arthur and Kaio Jorge on the treatment table, while Mattia Perin came in for rested Wojciech Szczesny.
The visitors were fresh from a 4-0 defeat to Napoli, where Victor Osimhen netted a brace, and they were also missing Manolo Gabbiadini, Valerio Verre, Ronaldo Vieira and Mohamed Ihattaren.
The goals on Sunday began when Manuel Locatelli’s strike was charged down, but he laid off the rebound for Paulo Dybala to smash into the near bottom corner from the edge of the box.
And, moments later, Federico Chiesa drilled inches wide while Alvaro Morata fired straight at on-rushing Emil Audero, in the Sampdoria goal. However, just as the Bianconeri were getting into gear, Dybala pulled up clutching his leg and limped off in tears after only 22 minutes.
In his stead, Dejan Kulusevski could have done better when presented with a header opportunity from a Juan Cuadrado cross but went wide. Without Dybala, there was a visible drop in enthusiasm in the Juve side after beginning strongly and energetically.
With two minutes before the interval, a Chiesa strike was downed by Nicola Murru’s hand and Leonardo Bonucci converted the ensuing penalty low and hard into the near bottom corner. It was a borderline decision, because Murru was trying to turn away, but his trailing hand was raised and referee Giovanni Ayroldi gave the penalty.
In the minute that followed, Sampdoria halved the deficit. Perin did well to parry a Fabio Quagliarella snapshot but on the resulting corner Candreva whipped a wonderful cross into the six-yard box for the Maya Yoshida glancing header to make it 2-1 before the break.
It meant there was going to be no Serie A clean sheet for Juventus. The last time they had one was in March, after which they have had a run of 20 consecutive games without managing to keep their net from being breached.
In the second half, the hosts restored the two-goal cushion when Chiesa ran at defenders and Omar Colley’s clearance fell straight at Kulusevski, who pulled back from the by-line for Manuel Locatelli to score from six yards. It was the Italy international’s first goal in the Juve jersey after arriving from Sassuolo.
Chances opened up for more goals as the game progressed but Matthijs de Ligt needed a perfectly-timed tackle on Quagliarella to deny him, while Audero beat away a Rodrigo Bentancur strike and Morata blasted wide from an Aaron Ramsey assist. The attempt left Morata clutching his hamstring and he was replaced by Moise Kean.
There was still one more goal in the match and with it, Sampdoria set up a tense finale after a well-worked move down the left with Adrien Silva found Candreva to blast in the angled drive from 12 yards. Juve, however, held on to finish with the three points and two injuries going into another UEFA Champions League fixture.
After the match, Bianconeri manager Allegri confirmed that injuries to Dybala and Morata have forced two of Juve’s brightest forwards out of squad selection for the important Group H matchday two tie against current UCL champions Chelsea at the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday.
Juve and Chelsea top the group after the opening day of matches with three points each and a win on Wednesday can improve the Bianconeri’s chances of getting the top slot in the group’s standings. That will be an uphill battle without Dybala and Morata and with Chelsea’s defending reputation.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
