04 February 2016
Thirteen: unlucky for some, record-breaking for Juventus.
There could only be one logical place to start a statistical summary of Wednesday night’s narrow 1-0 victory over Genoa and that is with a nod towards the Bianconeri’s 13th consecutive league victory since defeating Torino on 31 October, a new personal best for the reigning champions.
In a neat twist of fate, it was Juan Cuadrado’s last-gasp winner against Torino on that Halloween night that began this remarkable run of form and the Colombian was at hand again yesterday evening to continue what he had started, sending a low shot beyond the grasp of goalkeeper Mattia Perin via a deflection off Sebastian De Maio.
Thanks to Cuadrado’s close-range intervention, Massimiliano Allegri’s vintage can now not only lay claim to a club-record winning streak but also the longest active goal-scoring run in Serie A, finding the net in 13 matches in a row.
As it happens, the Chelsea loanee’s deflected effort, later confirmed as the second own goal to have been scored by Genoa in favour of Juventus this season, ensured that Allegri’s men prolonged the impressive statistic of winning 17 of the 18 games in which they have taken the lead this season, again a top-flight record.
On a night of few scoring opportunities and little in the way of penalty-box action, it should come as no surprise that it was the Bianconeri’s backline that came to the fore once more. Last night’s clean sheet was their fifth in six outings and maintained their status as the division’s meanest defence, conceding just 15 times this term.
The secret to such rearguard rigour has been the ability of Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli and co. in preventing their opponents from shooting. Not for the first time this campaign, Juve limited their visitors to a solitary one shot on target across the entire 90 minutes, while admittedly registering just two of their own at the other end.
Further forward, the midfield trio of Claudio Marchisio, Paul Pogba and Simone Padoin were as combative and competitive as one would expect. Although working in limited space in the final third – for which credit must be paid to a tenacious and well-organised Genoa side - Pogba completed 42 passes to go with his three shots, three tackles and six recoveries of possession.
At the top end of the field, there were to be no more penalty-area exploits from the likes of in-form Paulo Dybala, Alvaro Morata and Rossoblu striker Leonardo Pavoletti. While Dybala would create a match-high three scoring opportunities, the Argentine was surprisingly unable to fashion a single effort on target. Of the three, only Pavoletti was able to do so.
