Juventus bounced back from their defeat to Milan at the weekend with a comfortable 4-1 victory over Sampdoria courtesy of a rare Giorgio Chiellini brace!
Having suffered their second defeat of the season at the San Siro, Juve’s lead at the top going into this game had been cut to two points. With Paulo Dybala out with a thigh injury for the next fortnight, Massimiliano Allegri sought to maintain Juventus’ incredible home record by bringing in Mario Mandzukic to partner Gonzalo Higuain up front in a 442 formation. Giorgio Chiellini returned to partner Bonucci at the back and the Juve tifosi were treated to the welcome return of home town hero Claudio Marchisio to the starting line up, his first appearance for the Old Lady since the devastating knee injury he suffered at the back end of last season. Buffon was rested and replaced in goal by Neto.
Sampdoria came into this game buoyed by their victory last weekend in the Derby della Lanterna, their first win in the last eight Serie A fixtures. Marco Giampaolo stuck with the 442 formation from the game at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris and started 20 year old Czech Republic International Patrick Schick for the first time in place of Muriel. Fabio Quagliarella also dropped to the bench for Budimir.
Juventus’ midfielder Claudio Marchisio looks on before the Italian Serie A football match Juventus vs Udinese on October 15, 2016 at the ‘Juventus Stadium’ in Turin. / AFP / MARCO BERTORELLO/ GETTY Images
The Blucerchiati were looking to avoid a backlash from the Bianconeri and it was clear from the outset of the match that Juve were out to put their defeat to Milan behind them, playing at a high tempo and dominating possession with their crisp passing. It didn’t take long for the deadlock to be broken. Cuadrado ghosted past Samp captain Regini way too easily and whipped in a great cross for Mandzukic to head home unmarked inside the six yard box. It was the 30 year old Croatian’s first Serie A goal of the season.
Juventus’ perfect start got even better after 8 minutes after Pjanic’s out swinging corner from the right was headed home by Chiellini. It was terrible marking again from Sampdoria with only one defender in between both Chiellini and Mandzukic. The early stages signaled a long night ahead for Giampaolo’s men.
It was all too easy for Allegri’s men as they began to move the ball around at will without really threatening the goal. It took Sampdoria 25 minutes to register their first attempt on goal when Praet pounced on a loose ball in midfield from Higuain. The Belgian drove forward but his strike from outside the box was screwed harmlessly wide.
Juve remained comfortable in possession and were really playing in 2nd gear. Coming up to the half hour mark they almost added a third. Bonucci’s long ball forward found Pjanic who beat Sampdoria’s poor attempt at an offside trap and nodded it back for Higuain. The Argentine played the ball out to Mandzukic on the left who crossed low back to him in the box but El Pipita’s left footed strike hit the side netting.
Sampdoria almost pulled a goal back soon after with their first real foray into the champion’s area. Good feet on the left from Budimir saw him play in Schick who worked his way into the area, back heeling the ball from the byline back into the path of Budimir who struck the ball low across Neto who got a fingertip to send it just wide and out for corner.
That attack wasn’t to be a one off as Samp kept up the pressure on their opponents who seemed to be taking the foot off the gas towards the end of the half. Schick’s through pass to Alvaraz cut through the Juve back line. However, he was put off by the covering Chiellini as the Argentine’s shot lacked power and was held low by Neto.
Five minutes before half time there was concern on the Juve bench over Evra who went down with a calf problem. He was immediately replaced by Alex Sandro.
The second half started in complete contrast to the first. It was a sluggish start by Juve and felt like they were just going through the motions, knocking the ball around and maintaining possession, as the onus was on Sampdoria to up the tempo in order to get back into the game.
In the 57th minute, get back into the game Sampdoria did! Schick made it 2-1 on his full Serie A debut. A sloppy pass from Chiellini out to the right back position was intercepted by Praet who then crossed in low from the left to find Schick to side foot the ball home first time. It was a great finish from the 20 year old forward.
Soon after the goal Giampaolo opted to take a gamble by replacing the goalscorer Schick with Muriel and Budimir for Quagliarella, opting for his experienced forwards to get the equalizing goal for his side.
However, the goal seemed to spark Juventus into life as they began to pick up the pace once more. Controlled play in midfield out saw the ball sent out wide to Cuadrado who slipped the ball into the path of Khedira in the inside right position and found his shot parried by Puggioni before being cleared.
Juve were piling the pressure back on. Mandzukic got into a similar position as Khedira had a minute earlier but he decided to square the ball when a shot at goal looked the better option. Sampdoria’s desperate defence managed to get the ball away once more.
However, in the 65 minute it became clear that Giampaolo’s gamble had not paid off. Alex Sandro crossed the ball in from the left which was headed back across goal by Cuadrado. Pjanic got on the end of it, his first effort was parried by Puggioni but the rebound fell straight back to the Bosnian International who made no mistake with his second effort. It was poor defending again by Samp.
From that point on Sampdoria rarely threatened and the game was as good as over. Juventus kept control of the ball and Higuain was close to adding a fourth goal in the 70th minute. An Alex Sandro ball in again from the left found Higuain just outside the area but his first time left footed volley sailed high and wide.
Two minutes later, the the Juve fans afforded Claudio Marchisio a standing ovation as he was substituted for Lemina. Marchisio had a steady game back in the middle for the Old Lady and looked like he had never been away.
Sampdoria were probing for a second but they switched off at the back once again and almost conceded another goal. Pjanic’s ball over the top found the Higuain’s diagonal run to the right. It was a great first touch from the former Napoli forward but his right footed low shot across goal was well saved by Puggioni and cleared away for a corner.
That looked to be that until the 86th minute when a Cuadrado in-swinging free kick from the left hand side found Chiellini, again unmarked as the Sampdoria defence looked to the Assistant Referee for offside, who buried his header for his second and Juve’s final goal of the night.
It was a good night for the champions who maintained their two point lead over Roma at the top of Serie A. But despite the score line, they will need to up their game when they face Napoli on Saturday night. Sampdoria remain in the bottom half of the table but can take positives from their second half performance. However, they will need to defend a lot better when they host Inter Milan on Sunday night.
Juventus: Neto; Bonucci, Chiellini (c), Dani Alves, Evra (Alex Sandro 40); Khedira Marchisio (Lemina 72), Pjanic (Asamoah 82), Cuadrado; Higuain, Mandzukic (no Dybala, Buffon rested.)
Sampdoria: Puggioni; Silvestre, Skriniar, Sala, Regini (c); Praet, Barreto (Djuricic 73), Alvarez, Cigarini; Schick (Muriel 60), Budimir (Quagliarella 60).
Referee: Carmine Russo.
Keep up with the latest Italian football news by following Italian Football Daily on Twitter.
The post The Last Word…On Juventus vs Sampdoria appeared first on IFD.