Juventus powered past Palermo 2-0 at the Juventus Stadium on Sunday in Serie A.
Arturo Vidal and Fernando Llorente’s goals were enough to get the reigning Scudetto champions back on track and extend their lead over Roma to three points.
Prior to the game, it had been a difficult past week for the Bianconeri. First they were held to a surprise draw with Sassuolo that saw them drop their first points this season, and then stumbled to a second straight loss in the Champions League as they took on Greek outfit Olympiacos.
Meanwhile, the Rosanero continued to struggle in their first season back in Serie A, with just one win from their first seven games seeing them already floundering near the bottom of the table. As a result, the hosts were pipped as the clear favorites to pull off a positive result, given the fact that they had won their last four meetings with the visitors–all without conceding a single goal.
Although the game started off relatively slowly, it was not surprising to see Juventus enjoying the lion’s share of possession as Palermo were content to sit back and absorb as much pressure as possible.
Two goal-scoring opportunities fell their way through Claudio Marchisio but the midfielder sliced his first effort horribly wide and the second was blasted over the bar. Nonetheless, Stefano Sorrentino had to be on his toes as Massimiliano Allegri’s men continued to threaten, notably making a smart stop to deny Llorente’s headed attempt.
Yet, despite being pegged back for lengthy spells, the Rosanero still tried to make a couple of attempts, with Franco Vasquez making two efforts in rapid succession but nothing came to fruition nor troubled Gianluigi Buffon.
And then, just minutes later, Juventus finally made their dominance count as on a breakaway run, Carlos Tevez set up Vidal who coolly finished off the move to put Allegri’s troops ahead shortly after the half-hour mark.
Shortly after the half-time break, Allegri opted to make his first change of the game, bringing off Roberto Pereyra in lieu of Stephan Lichtsteiner. The Swiss international then immediately got involved, feeding Kwadwo Asamoah but the Ghanaian’s attempt was thwarted by a Palermo defender.
Juventus seemed really keen on pushing for a second and after Marchisio sliced yet another effort, Andrea Pirlo’s corner kick was met by Llorente, who finally got the goal he was seeking through a well-placed header. Prior to the goal, Giuseppe Iachini had made his own modification, swapping Edgar Barreto for Andrea Belotti.
Pirlo, who is still recovering after his long injury lay-off made way for Paul Pogba immediately after his assist as his coach decided to give the veteran midfielder a rest. Iachini reacted 10 minutes later by exchanging Luca Rigoni for Vincenzo Maresca, followed by both coaches making their third and final changes as Tevez departed for Sebastian Giovinco and Franco Vazquez for Robin Quaison.
The remaining period saw the hosts continue to threaten while the visitors appeared resigned to their fate as they went into damage control mode, and the match concluded with the Bianconeri recording yet another clean sheet.
