13 December 2020
A second half brace by Cristiano Ronaldo and goal from Paulo Dybala saw Juventus claim a 3-1 victory over Genoa at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Sunday evening. After a frustrating first half, the Bianconeri finally broke the deadlock through La Joya, before Ronaldo’s two penalties meant the team return to Turin with three points.
GOALLESS FIRST HALF
It was almost the perfect start for the Bianconeri after they thought they had grabbed an early lead with just two minutes on the block: a free-kick was floated into the box, Bonucci flicked it back for Rabiot, who turned it into the back of the net with a subsequent touch of his hand. The goal was subsequently ruled out and he was booked. Perin kept the scorelines level when he palmed away McKennie’s glancing header, while Bentancur blasted an effort wide of goal. The Bianconeri were the ones who were working their way around the box more than their counterparts, but they couldn’t find a breakthrough in the opening 45.
DYBALA OPENS THE SCORING
The first chance after the break saw Ronaldo, who was making his 100th appearance for Juventus, blast wide of goal. The goal did eventually arrive in the 57th minute when McKennie flicked the ball back for Dybala, who cut inside and fired the ball into the back of the net with his left foot. A second Juve goal was then ruled out when Ronaldo played the ball to Chiesa, who placed in a good finish only for the offside flag to be raised.
STURARO EQUALISES
Genoa weren’t giving up and they found the equaliser just five minutes later in the 62’ minute through Sturaro. Pellegrini played in a cross towards the back post, and he connected onto it to fire in an angled drive on the volley. Minutes later Dybala had his acrobatic goal denied for offside, while Szczesny made a solid save to deny Rovella’s snapshot. Perin denied Ronaldo on the line from point-blank range, but he couldn’t do anything to deny the Portuguese from the spot.
RONALDO CONVERTS FROM THE SPOT (x2)
Cuadrado was pulled down inside in the box by Rovello in the 77th minute, and it resulted in a penalty in favour of Juventus. Ronaldo stood up to take the effort, and he made no mistake in blasting it down the middle. A second penalty was awarded to Juve in the 87th minute when Perin brought down Morata: Ronaldo stood up to take it and he blasted it into the roof of the net to put the result beyond a doubt.
Genoa (4-4-2): Perin; Goldaniga, Bani, Masiello, Pellegrini; Radovanovic, Sturaro, Rovella, Lerager; Pjaca, Scamacca.
Genoa bench: Paleari, Zima, Behrami, Zajc, Ghiglione, Pandev, Destro, Melegoni, Caso, Shomurodov, Dumbravanu, Czyborra
Juventus (4-4-2): Szczesny; De Ligt, Bonucci, Alex Sandro; Cuadrado, McKennie, Rabiot (Morata 67’), Bentancur, Chiesa (Kulusevski 83’); Ronaldo, Dybala (Bernardeschi 83’).
Juve bench: Israel, Buffon, Arthur, Ramsey, Morata, Danilo, Bernardeschi, Da Graca, Dragusin, Frabotta, Portanova, Kulusevski.
