Juventus beat Atalanta 2-1 at the Juventus Stadium in Serie A on Friday evening.
Giulio Migliaccio gave Atalanta a surprising lead before Fernando Llorente leveled for the Italian champions from a scrap in the penalty area, and Andrea Pirlo produced a stupendous shot to put the hosts ahead.
La Vecchia Signora’s preparation for their UEFA Champions League tie with Borussia Dortmund in midweek got off to a good start after a period of strong attacking pressure culminated with Fernando Llorente putting an Andrea Pirlo corner kick wide, before the Spaniard was ruled offside when presented with a good scoring opportunity.
The 29-year-old was then through on goal again but couldn’t put his side ahead as he dragged his shot wide of Marco Sportiello in the Atalanta goal.
The first proper save of the match, surprisingly, was made by Gianluigi Buffon as La Dea’s attacking force scrambled the ball inside the area before smashing it towards the Italian goalkeeper, before the resulting corner led to a shock goal for the team fourth from bottom in Serie A as Giulio Migliaccio gave the visitors the lead.
Attacks became all the more successful for Massimiliano Allegri’s team after that when Roberto Pereyra’s effort was put just wide.
Paul Pogba then produced a wonderfully placed ball which Martin Caceres shot towards Sportiello, and from the resulting corner some messy play in the penalty area eventually led to the ball rolling past the Atalanta goal line, with Llorente claiming the goal ahead of the other four or five Juventus attackers that were trying to score.
Andrea Pirlo then produced a moment of magic as his shot from a long way out found it’s way into the top right hand corner of the net on the stroke of half time, which meant Juventus went into the break 2-1 ahead.
Stefano Colantuono’s half time team talk must have given Atalanta some belief, as Sportiello pulled out a fantastic save to stop a Pogba header from point blank range which was simply unmissable.
German Denis almost put Atalanta back on level terms just after the hour mark, but the 33-year-old Argentine’s header went straight into the arms of Buffon.
Lionel Scaloni then tried a Pirlo a quarter of an hour from the end, but the 36-year-old Argentine’s effort went over the bar.
Substitute Alvaro Morata then continued his recent good form as he sprinted away from the Atalanta defenders on a Bianconeri counter attack but he spent too long on the ball and it resulted in a corner.
Migliaccio was then presented with a half chance to make the score 2-2 but the 33-year-old’s header went wide, and the score remained 2-1 when referee Massimiliano Irrati blew the full time whistle.
This victory means that Juventus now extend their lead over Roma at the top of the Serie A table to 10 points before they face a visit from Germans Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, while Atalanta remain in 17th place and risk ending the weekend in the relegation zone.
