09 September 2017
Juventus carried on their perfect start to the Serie A season with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Chievo Verona at the Allianz Stadium on a rain-soaked Saturday night in Turin.
An own goal from Chievo’s Perparim Hetemaj coupled with strikes from Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala saw the Bianconeri return from the international break in fine form moving to nine points from three Serie A matches.
Juventus began the game in a bullish mood, trying to deny their opponents space and chasing down the ball at every opportunity. The Bianconeri were rewarded by their tenacity with a goal in the 17th minute.
A splendid ball into the box by Miralem Pjanic from a free-kick almost found Stefano Sturaro lurking, but in an attempt to cut out the threat, Chievo captain Hetemaj inadvertently turned the ball into his own net to give Juve a 1-0 lead.
Chievo were beginning to grow into the game and Wojciech Szczesny was soon called into action on his maiden Juventus appearance. Valter Birsa rolled a Chievo free-kick into the path of Ivan Radovanovic and Szczesny got down well to his left to save and before Benatia cleared the danger with an acrobatic header.
In the second-half Massimiliano Allegri’s first change of the night saw Paulo Dybala come on for the lively Douglas Costa and he made an instant impact as Juve doubled their lead. La Joya made a trademark run before sliding a pass to Pjanic. The midfielder’s expertly-played ball freed Higuain in on goal and the Argentine fired home from close range in the 58th minute
A simply stupendous dribble from Paulo Dybala saw him nearly score an early goal of the season contender after he beat four Chievo players, but his effort was blocked, the Allianz Stadium showing their appreciation after with some warm applause for La Joya.
However, Dybala wasn’t to be denied his goal. Some fine work from second-half substitute Federico Bernardeschi played through Dybala. Juve’s number ten skipped past a defender and slotted comfortably with his left foot past Stefano Sorrentino in the Chievo Verona goal to make it 3-0 to Juventus finally getting the goal that his hard work deserved.
Up next for Juventus is a trip to the Nou Camp as the UEFA Champions League campaign gets kicked off on Tuesday night at Barcelona. The Bianconeri return to Serie A action in a confident mood next Sunday with a trip to Sassuolo looking to make it four wins on the spin to open the season.
