21 September 2015
It was an afternoon of firsts in Liguria on Sunday: a first clean sheet of the league season, a maiden first-half goal, Paul Pogba's first ever Serie A penalty, the first time Juve were in front in a match but above all an opening win of the campaign for the Bianconeri and a fourth in their last five meetings with Genoa.
In the process, Massimiliano Allegri’s men earned a second victory in a row to get their domestic campaign on its feet following Tuesday night’s fine showing in Manchester.
own-goals and penalties
While Paul Pogba’s second-half penalty was his first in Serie A and the Old Lady’s second in consecutive league games following Paulo Dybala’s late equaliser against Chievo last time out, Eugenio Lamanna’s own goal was the first in Juve’s favour since 30 August 2014, Cristiano Biraghi the unlucky culprit on that occasion.
Lamanna’s unfortunate ricochet was the third goal scored at the wrong end between the two teams in the last ten years, with the others coming courtesy of Sokratis Papasthopoulos and Marco Rossi in November 2008 and April 2011 respectively, both producing wins for the Bianconeri.
Solid defence, dangerous attack
Pogba’s spot-kick and his volley to force the Genoa keeper’s mistake decided what was, on the whole, an even encounter.
While Juventus just shaded the possession stakes, enjoying 50.2 per cent of the ball, a figure significantly boosted in the second period as the Rossoblu were reduced to ten men, both sides attempted an almost identical number of passes (Genoa’s 450 to Juve’s 460) as well as completing a similar number of interceptions (the hosts' 18 to the visitors' 15).
Besides the key incidents that led to the Bianconeri’s two goals, the most telling difference was made though in the final third where the Old Lady's greater efficiency and threat were reflected across the board in the game’s statistics.
Massimiliano Allegri’s men fully profited from their numerical advantage following Armando Izzo’s 43rd minute dismissal, executing more successful dribbles than their hosts (17 to 15), more than double the number of positive actions in the opposition’s penalty area (16 to 7) and three times as many shots on goal from inside the box (9).
On an individual level, Juve’s most consistent performer was Andrea Barzagli, adding four interceptions and seven clearances to his 62 successful passes over the 90 minutes; a match high for the Italy international.
Going forward, Juan Cuadrado was the day’s main attacking threat, creating two goalscoring opportunities, completing four dribbles and taking 58 touches, in what proved to be another positive performance for the Colombian in the black and white.
