Juventus continues to cherish a glimmer of hope for title after Morata double


Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 7:55 PM• Dominic Mostert

Juventus continues to have a glimmer of hope for the league title in Italy. The number four of the Serie A won a visit to Sampdoria on Saturday evening with 1-3 and is therefore only four points behind AC Milan, although the leader does have a duel due. After Yoshida’s own goal, Álvaro Morata scored twice for Juventus, who credited the third league win in a row.

Matthijs de Ligt had a base place at Juventus, but it was another ex-Eredivisionist who opened the score. Yoshida, defender of Sampdoria, gave Juventus the lead midway through the first half with an own goal. Juventus countered down the right flank. In a counter-attack, Morata steamed up the axis of the field, before serving Juan Cuadrado on his right. The Colombian wanted to deliver a low cross to Moise Kean, but before the pass arrived at its destination, Yoshida accidentally slipped the ball in.

Ten minutes later, Juventus had the opportunity to expand the margin from a penalty kick. Kean was hooked in the box by Omar Colley, after which Morata flawlessly searched the left corner from the spot. Juventus controlled the field play in the first half, without creating many chances. In the end there was no need for that, given the way in which both goals fell before half time. Sampdoria became dangerous twice: Wojciech Szczesny saved attempts by Antonio Candreva and Stefano Sensi. Juventus survived the break without major problems, but eighteen minutes before half time Paolo Valeri awarded a penalty to Sampdoria.

Adrien Rabiot started a handball – it was questionable whether he did it inside or outside the box, but the arbitration ruled that he was inside. However, with his left hand, Szczesny cleverly tapped the ball out of the corner after Candreva’s penalty. It was already the third consecutive penalty that Szczesny managed to save. The tension returned when a free kick by Abdelhamid Sabiri sailed in through Morata’s back, but Morata made the final score 1-3 with a great header from an almost impossible angle after a cross by Manuel Locatelli.

No. Team m W G V † Pnt
1 AC Milan 28 18 6 4 25 60
2 Internazionale 27 17 7 3 38 58
3 Napoli 28 17 6 5 29 57
4 Juventus 29 16 8 5 19 56
5 Atalanta 27 13 8 6 19 47
6 AS Roma 28 14 5 9 12 47
7 Lazio 28 13 7 8 15 46
8 Fiorentina 27 13 4 10 9 43
9 Hellas Verona 28 11 8 9 9 41
10 Sassuolo 29 10 10 9 3 40
11 Torino 27 9 7 11 5 34
12 Bologna 27 9 6 12 -10 33
13 empoli 28 8 8 12 -13 32
14 Udinese 26 6 11 9 -9 29
15 special 29 8 5 16 -20 29
16 sampdoria 29 7 5 17 -14 26
17 Cagliari 29 5 10 14 -25 25
18 Venice 27 5 7 15 -26 22
19 Genoa 28 1 15 12 -25 18
20 Salernitana 27 3 7 17 -41 16