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Last time out against the Blucerchiati

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Last time out against the Blucerchiati
Last time out against the Blucerchiati
Last time out against the Blucerchiati

The end of 2013 had seen Antonio Conte’s side finish top of the standings with a mammoth 46 points and they had brought in the new year with back-to-back victories against both Roma and Cagliari.

Sampdoria arrived at Juventus Stadium in January with a new manager in tow after Sinisa Mihajlovic had been appointed following the dismissal of Delio Rossi and they were looking to avenge their 1-0 opening day defeat to the Old Lady at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

The Bianconeri started brightly and almost took the lead when Fernando Llorente controlled a long throw from Giorgio Chiellini in the area before slipping Carlos Tevez in. But L’Apache’s fierce effort arched over Junior da Costa’s crossbar.

Juventus didn’t have to wait long to go ahead, however, as Arturo Vidal latched on to Paul Pogba’s delightful pass before deftly flicking the ball into the corner of the net on 18 minutes.

GOAL! #JuveSamp 1-0. @kingarturo23 is picked out to perfection by #Pogba's delightful reverse pass and clips the ball beyond Da Costa!

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 18, 2014

Six minutes later it was two.

Kwadwo Asamoah let fly a long-range speculative effort that was deflected behind for a corner and from Tevez’s resulting set-piece, Llorente leapt like a salmon to double the Bianconeri’s advantage with a bullet header.

GOAL! #JuveSamp 2-0. @llorentefer19 stoops highest to meet @carlitos3210's delivery and plant an emphatic header into the top corner!

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 18, 2014

The encounter started to become more stretched after that second goal as Sampdoria tried to get themselves back into the game. And the visitors forced Gigi Buffon into a splendid save with an outstretched foot as he kept out Shkodran Mustafi’s sidefoot finish from close range.

It was then the turn of Da Costa to make his own spectacular stop as he pushed out Tevez’s piledriver before Manolo Gabbiadini’s free-kick sailed high and wide down the other end.

But when it looked like the Bianconeri looked to have weathered the Blucerchiati storm, Sampdoria halved the deficit after Andrea Barzagli inadvertently turned a teasing cross into his own net four minutes ahead of the break.

#JuveSamp 2-1. Barzagli stretches out to intercept an incoming cross from the left but turns the ball past Buffon.

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 18, 2014

That didn’t serve as the last action of the half, however, as Vidal was checked in the area by Vasco Regini and Juventus were awarded a penalty.

The Chilean picked himself up before emphatically firing his spot-kick into the top corner just before the half-time interval.

GOAL! #JuveSamp 3-1. @kingarturo23 doubles his tally for the evening with a perfectly struck penalty that leaves Da Costa with no chance!

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 18, 2014

The game continued at the same frenetic pace in the second half with Buffon having to pull off a spectacular stop from point-blank range to deny a header from unmarked Pawel Wszolek on the hour mark.

Juventus could have gone even futher in front when Llorente was put clean through by an excellent pass from Vidal but the Lion King dragged his effort wide of the target with recovering defenders breathing down his neck.

Things were made interesting when Buffon clawed Pedro Obiang’s header away to Gabbiadini – co-owned by the Bianconeri – who forced the ball over the line to make it 3-2 with just over 20 minutes remaining.

Sampdoria struck the crossbar as the seconds ticked down but Pogba proved to be the matchwinner when his fantastic curling effort beat Da Costa all ends up to ensure all three points with nine minutes to go.

GOAL! #JuveSamp 4-2. Another masterpiece from the right boot of #Pogba, who curls an unstoppable long range strike past Da Costa! #AllezPaul

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 18, 2014

FULL-TIME: #JuveSamp 4-2. A pulsating night of #SerieA action draws to a close! @kingarturo23 (2), @llorentefer19 and #Pogba on target.

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 18, 2014

Following the game, two-goal hero Vidal rallied his side to carry on picking up those important points towards their title charge.

#Vidal: It’s a tough league, Roma and Napoli have great players but we need to keep going and producing more of the same. #JuveSamp

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 18, 2014

Llorente praised the Bianconeri’s collective performance during a gripping affair at Juventus Stadium.

#Llorente: We played a great game against a tough team who gave us difficulties tonight. #JuveSamp

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 18, 2014

Exclusive match highlights of a free-flowing contest at Juventus Stadium can be found here:


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