Juventus have extended their Serie A winning streak to nine matches with a 2-1 victory over Sampdoria at the Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris this evening.
Massimiliano Allegri's men netted either side of half time before holding on for a victory that takes them up to second in the table, just two points behind leaders Napoli.
© Getty Images
The defending champions took the lead after just 17 minutes when Paul Pogba chested a high ball down inside the area and, while he didn't connect perfectly with his volley on the turn, he got enough on it to steer it into the bottom corner.
That proved to be a rare highlight of a largely uneventful first half, but the second began in much more promising style as Juventus gave themselves a cushion within a minute of the restart.
It was all too easy for the visitors as Paulo Dybala slid the ball through to Sami Khedira, who found himself in an unfamiliar centre-forward role but finished with aplomb by poking the ball into the bottom corner with the outside of his boot.
© Getty Images
Dybala almost got his own name on the scoresheet shortly after the hour mark as Juve looked to well and truly put the game to bed, but Emiliano Viviano was equal to the striker's powerful low effort from the edge of the box.
Hernanes swung in the resulting corner, but Alvaro Morata's header went just wide and Sampdoria immediately made the Old Lady pay for those missed chances.
The hosts stormed straight down the other end and the in-form Antonio Cassano managed to collect Carlos Carbonero's low pass and steer it into the bottom corner despite having little room to work with inside the box.
Suddenly Juve's winning streak looked under threat and Sampdoria almost grabbed an equaliser just three minutes later when Fernando flashed an effort just wide of the target from the edge of the box.
There was little more for the visitors to worry about in the closing stages, though, and any hope of a Sampdoria equaliser evaporated when Nikolas Moisander was given his marching orders deep into stoppage time.
Barney Corkhill
