28 October 2015
Goals by Carlos Blanco Moreno and Luca Clemenza helped Juventus’ Primavera
prevail 2-1 over Sampdoria on Wednesday afternoon in Vinovo, a win that sees Fabio Grosso’s men reach the last 16 of the Coppa Italia.
The hosts created a number of scoring opportunities in a lively first half, Luca Clemenza hitting the crossbar and Claudio Zappa the post in the 17th and 30th minutes respectively.
Two minutes before the break, Carlos Blanco Moreno made his side’s early domination count by netting his second in as many matches, as the Bianconeri took a slender lead into half-time.
Mattia Vitale burst in from the left and immediately forced a save out of Samp stopper Pietro Cavagnaro before Clemenza struck the woodwork once more
on 70 minutes.
From going within whiskers of adding a second goal, Juve found themselves on level terms moments later when Andrea Bacigalupo popped up with the equaliser (double found/found).
Clemenza would have the final say, however, hitting the target for the fifth time in what has been a positive start to the campaign both on a personal level and for the team as a whole, who almost increased the margin of victory in the closing stages through Vitale and Stefano Pellini.
Speaking after the final whistle, Grosso said: “I’m delighted with our first-half performance. We could have done better after the break, but in any given game there’s always room for improvement. We’ll take the positives from this display and look to replicate all the good things we did today in our next outings.
“We’re aware of the fact that there are still plenty of matches to play this season, but we want to stay in the mix on all fronts. We’re on a good run in all competitions right now and I’m happy with how we’re going about our business.”
The Bianconeri will now be looking to register an early season double over the Blucerchiati as, in an intriguing twist of fate, they provide their next opposition on Saturday in Liguria, this time in the league.
Meanwhile, Spezia are the side awaiting Grosso's young guns for their Coppa Italia round of 16 tie on 18 November.
