Juventus have cemented their name into the hat for the knockout rounds of the Champions League with a comfortable 4-2 win over Zenit St Petersburg.
The Old Lady started the evening brightly, playing nice positive football and looked dangerous from the get-go. The Russian side were not shying away either however, as they looked to push up in numbers also, and we were always looking destined for an exciting encounter.
We didn’t have to wait long for the opening goal either, with Paulo Dybala rifling away a snap-shot after the ball was bouncing loose inside the penalty area, scoring in the 10th minute of play, having hit the post just moments earlier.
Both sides continued to play open fluid football, and the Russian side did pull things level before half-hour mark, somewhat fortuitously as their winger’s cross was guided into the top corner by Leo Bonucci’s attempted headed clearance.
We continued to push forward and did appear to have taken the lead once again, but Morata was well aware that he had strayed offside before the ball was played into him before he poked it home.
Federico Chiesa continued to cause havoc for our rivals, and his darted run into the box saw the defender kick his ankle and bring him down for the penalty around 10 minutes into the second-half. Paulo Dybala actually missed the goal with his initial effort, only for the ref to blow for it to be retaken after two Zenit players (and possibly McKennie) had stepped into the box. The Argentine showed his superior mentality to aim for the same side with his second effort, and bury it deep into the bottom corner.
Chiesa eventually got himself on the scoresheet himself after picking up the ball outside the box and running at the defender, beating two before striking it past the goalkeeper, running rings around his rivals.
Alvaro Morata joined the party with just under 10 minutes to play, capping off a fine counter attack to put the result completely out of doubt, before a very late consolation goal Azmoun.
This is the Juventus that we love to see, and we need to see this sort of performance domestically to save our season.
Today was amazing to watch, and I can’t wait to see more.
Patrick
