February 27, (THEWILL) – On Saturday evening, Juventus reinforced their grip on fourth place in Serie A with a 3-2 win over Empoli, a game in which Dusan Vlahovic’s two goals were the difference.
Moise Kean broke the deadlock in the first half, but Szymon Zurkowski equalised before Vlahovic’s brace proved crucial. Andrea La Mantia did manage to get another back for Empoli, but it was only a consolation.
When January acquisitions Vlahovic and Denis Zakaria connected, Juve had a terrific early chance, but the latter was unable to overcome Empoli goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. Vlahovic himself came close to putting the visitors ahead, but his shot went wide of the far post.
Juve, on the other hand, came under fire at the other end, first from penalty appeals against Adrien Rabiot and then from Szymon Zurkowski’s near-post miss.
From Empoli’s perspective, Juve’s game-winning goal was far too simple. There was insufficient pressure on the pass from Luca Pellegrini to Rabiot down the left flank, and the latter’s cross found an unmarked Kean who calmly nodded into the net.
With a corner not cleared and Zurkowski able to poke in from under the feet of many unwary defenders, Juve conceded a very sloppy equaliser as well.
Vlahovic was poised as the talented forward that he is in the penalty box, turning inside to create space for the shot and putting the ball home in first-half stoppage time.
The Serbian’s goal to extend the lead midway through the second half was probably better, as he somehow managed to take a bad through pass from Alvaro Morata and lobbed the ball over the onrushing Vicario.
Juve should have been out of sight at that point, but La Mantia’s strike gave Empoli a lifeline by exploiting poor defending.
Juventus’ unbeaten record in all competitions now stands at nine games, and they have snapped their five-game losing streak. They are still in fourth place, seven points behind Milan. Fiorentina is their next opponent in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg.
Empoli’s winless streak continues, and they remain in 13th place. They travel to Genoa next weekend for their next game.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
