Genoa: Juventus beat Genoa 3-1 the Serie A at The Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris in Genoa on Sunday (December 13). Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala scored for the visitors while Stefano Sturaro netted one for the home side.
Andrea Pirlo set up his side in a 3-5-2 formation with a 3 man backline consisting Mathijs de Ligt, Leonardo Bonucci and Alex Sandro. Juan Cuadrado and Federico Chiesa acting as wide midfielders completed a five-man midfield while Ronaldo and Dybala shared the frontline.
Juventus dominated the possession on the ball from the kick-off creating chances as early as possible. Chiesa and Cuadrado were connecting with forward fairly well providing width to make things happen.
Despite that, Juventus were unable to find the net in the first half for which credit should be given to the defensive ability of the Genoa side while youngster Weston Mckennie is slowly proving his worth especially during the set-piece movements in the opponent’s box.
In the second half, The Bianconeri finally broke the deadlock when Mckennie flicked one off his head for Dybala who went on his own before in his typical fashion cutting inside and drilling it past goalkeeper Mattia Perin. As the game progressed the Argentine attacking midfielder got involved more in the game.
However, Genoa equalised through Stefano Sturaro who scored against his former side after receiving a wonderful floating cross in the box by Luca Pellegrini, a loanee from Juventus before volleying it from an acute angle. Genoa looked like would hold the defending champion but Juventus were putting pressure on them.
It evidently led to their 2-1 lead when Ronaldo converted one from the penalty spot on his 100th appearance for the Italian side before making it 3-1 again from the penalty spot after goalkeeper Perin rushed for the ball making contact with substitute forward Alvaro Morata in the box. In the end, the visitors ended their clinical performance taking full points.
