When you’re the chasing team in the standings, it’s always good knowing what your quarry had done.
When Como played out a goalless draw in Monday’s lunchtime kickoff against Udinese, Juventus knew they had a massive opportunity. If they beat Genoa, they would close to within a point of the upstarts from the lake, and with Como facing a big game against league leaders Inter (barf) next week, Juve could conceivably be in fourth place by Sunday if they beat Atalanta.
They came out of the first half like
they knew it. Within 17 minutes the Bianconeri were up 2-0, and it could have been substantially more if their finishing had been better. Genoa put up a fight in the second half, and redemption was the order of the day when Michele Di Gregorio, on at halftime after an injury to Mattia Perin, made a spectacular double save after Bremer conceded a penalty with 20 minutes left to play.
It was perhaps a little nervier than it should’ve been, but Juve ultimately pulled off the victory, leaving them breathing down Como’s neck with a big week ahead.
Luciano Spalletti came into the day searching for his 300th Serie A win. He deployed a 4-1-4-1 formation, anchored by Perin in goal. Pierre Kalulu, Bremer, Lloyd Kelly, and Andrea Cambiaso formed the defensive line, with Manuel Locatelli sitting behind him. Francisco Conceição, Weston McKennie, Khéphren Thuram, and Kenan Yildiz lined up behind Jonathan David up front.
Genoa were managed by Daniele De Rossi, who had guided them six points clear of the drop zone with eight games to play. He arranged his charges in a conservative 5-4-1 formation. Justin Bijlow started in goal behind the quintet of Mikael Ellertsson, Alessandro Marcandalli, Johan Vásquez, Leo Østigård, and Aarón Martín. Junior Messias and and Vitinha bracketed Morten Frendrup and known Juve killer Ruslan Malinovskyi in midfield, while Lorenzo Colombo served as the lone striker.
Juve were ahead before there were four minutes on the clock. A powerful run by Thuram led to a sustained attack, which ultimately resulted in a corner kick. That corner was taken short, and after a few attempts to recycle the ball Bremer, who had stayed up, got his head to a flicked header from Kelly, who powered the ball in via a deflection off Vasquez.
Juve didn’t let up on the gas for even a moment, and Yildiz couldn’t get any power behind a shot just two minutes after play restarted when he played a one-two with Cambiaso. Thuram had a go from distance that skipped a meter or so wide, and Juve continued to pile on pressure, barely letting the visitors get a touch, let alone create anything dangerous in the final third. Malinovskyi had a long-range free kick deflected behind, but a pair of corners didn;t cause any trouble in Perin’s box.
Juve roared again in the 17th minute, this time off a vicious counter, that saw Conceição lay the ball off beautifully to a trailing McKennie, who was completely free to slam the ball home first-time and double Juve’s lead with his fifth league goal of the year.
Ostigard made a great tackle to deny a Conceição connection with Yildiz at the last moment, and then the young Turk was perhaps a bit too selfless after Locatelli found him in the box with a good ball following a short corner, trying to head down for David when a close-range shot was there for him.
By the 22nd minute, Juve were carrying more than three-quarters of possession. Genoa was leaving all sorts of space between their lines, and Juve’s players were choosing to pass up decent shots to try to tee up a teammate for something even better—something that unfortunately often led to an attack petering out. The only real negative came in the 27th minute when McKennie made a careless challenge and got booked, putting him over the suspension threshold for next week’s critical trip to Bergamo.
Just after the half-hour Yildiz found a tiny pocket of space to send the ball to the far post, but Bijlow tracked it all the way and held it. Minutes before the half McKennie had a golden opportunity to put the game to bed, but he ballooned Yildiz’s cushioned header down to him from mere feet away from goal. A minute later Conceição’s shot skittered across the grass and bent wide at the last minute.
Juve had been more than good for their lead—indeed, Genoa were lucky that they weren’t down by three or four—but there was some trouble brewing. Before the second half began fans were surprised to see Di Gregorio appear at the touch line. Perin had developed a calf problem in the first half, and now made way for Juve’s erstwhile starter to finish the game off.
Juve were desperately unlucky not to be ahead even further after the opening minutes of the second half. McKennie missed another sitter after Locatelli dropped a free kick to Thuram, who had dropped it in for the American. Seconds later David hit a flat-footed shot with a stunning amount of pace, only to bang it off the inside of the post and back out. Conceição’s horrible shank off a Yildiz assist capped five minutes that could have—perhaps should have—sealed the game.
Di Gregorio was given a cheer in the 53rd minute after saving a shot that went right at him—whether it was sarcastic or encouraging is left up to the beholder. But he was starting to become more and more important. The introduction of Tommaso Baldanzi gave Genoa more impetus, and they began to threaten more and more. They threw Caleb Ekuban on in the hopes that he could help jar the Juve defense all the way open. Juve responded by sending on Arek Milik for David, much to the Canadian’s displeasure.
It was very nearly disaster with just under 20 minutes to go when Bremer was whistled for a foul on Martín. He had gone to ground rashly and caught the Spaniard, but while Davide Massa initially called him just outside the box, replay showed that Martín’s foot was on the line, and aftrer a long check the Grifone were awarded a penalty.
The spotlight now fell firmly on Di Gregorio—and he delivered. Martín’s penalty to the left was met by the keeper’s dive, then when Vitinha somehow not only kept the ball in bounds but found Martín again, whose first-time shot wsa once again met by Di Gregorio’s hand, keeping the visitor’s out in a key moment.
Thuram apparently didn’t learn the lesson from Bremer and got a booking for bringing Baldanzi down just outside the area, but Martín slammed his shot into the wall. With 10 minutes left Di Gregorio was called upon again, this time catching and holding a header by substitute Patrizio Masini that was right at him.
Just a minute later Milik almost caught Bijow off his line, lofting that ball from just short of the halfway line and forcing the Dutchman to punch the ball behind and deny Milik a spectacular return goal. Yildiz had a pass for the Pole poked away in the nick of time with five minutes left, as the Bianconeri reestablished a modicum of control as the game wound down. The final moments of regular time and stoppages ticked off, and at Massa’s last whistle confirmed three massive points for Juve, layering next week with even more importance.
