It was not a spectacular Juventus performance, but a brace from the MOTM, Dusan Vlahovic, helped the Bianconeri secure a 3-0 win against Genoa behind closed doors.
Juventus needed the minimum effort to beat Genoa 3-0 at Marassi on Saturday.
The Bianconeri dominated possession but didn’t create much in the first half.
However, Vlahovic broke the deadlock minutes after the break, converting a penalty kick caused by ex.-Juventus defender Koni De Winter.
From that moment, Juventus were entirely in control and saw their star striker score a second one at minute 55. This time, he was given too much time and space from veteran Genoa defender Mattia Bani.
Portuguese winger Francisco Conceiçao scored his first Serie A goal in the stoppages a few minutes after replacing Nico Gonzalez.
Genoa vs Juventus – player ratings
Genoa (3-5-2): Gollini 6; De Winter 4.5, Bani 5, Vasquez 5; Zanoli 5.5 (86′ Sabelli N/A), Frendrup 6, Badelj 6 (26′ Bohinen 5.5), Miretti 6 (69′ Kasa 5.5), Ahanor 5 (69′ Matturro 5.5); Pinamonti 5.5, Vitinha 5 (69′ Ankeye 5.5). Coach: Gilardino 5.
Best Genoa player – Miretti 6: It’s really hard to pick a standout performer for Genoa today. Poor performance overall. Il Grifone reacted when it was too late. At least Miretti tried to show his worth against the Old Lady, hoping to return next season.
Lowest Juventus rating – De Winter 4.5: Another ex-Juventus player. De Winter’s handball sparked Juventus Goleada in the second half. A bad day at the office, not the first one for Genoa this week.
Coach – Gilardino 5: Simply, Genoa didn’t create enough. The first half was decent, but they literally collapsed after the break. Gila missed Gudmundsson and Retegui so badly.
Juventus (4-2-3-1): Perin 6.5; Danilo 6, Kalulu 6.5 (74′ Savona 6), Bremer 6.5, Rouhi 6 (74′ Cambiaso 6); McKennie 6 (62′ Douglas Luiz 6), Fagioli 6.5; Nico Gonzalez 6 (62′ Conceiçao 7), Koopmeiners 7, Yildiz 6 (74′ Thuram 6.5); Vlahovic 7.5. Coach: Motta 6.5.
Best Juventus player – Vlahovic 7.5: Silenced critics with his goal celebration. His second strike was simply superb. Such a quick and powerful execution. That is precisely what Juventus expect from him. He hadn’t netted for a month. Now he has four goals in six Serie A matches. Top scorer with Mateo Retegui and Christian Pulisic.
Coach: Thiago Motta 6.5 – Juventus’ first half was clearly not good enough. Too slow, too sloppy and too similar to the Juventus of the recent past. It could have been a different game if it hadn’t been for De Winter’s handball, but Juventus made the most of it and eventually dominated for 90 minutes. Next up is RB Leipzig in the Champions League.