Having lost to AC Milan last weekend at the San Siro, it was always going to be a big week for Juventus, as they aimed to return to winning ways.
It couldn’t have got off to a better start with the 4-1 victory over Sampdoria in mid-week. While AC Milan laboured to a defeat in Genoa, Max Allegri’s team were taking apart Serie A’s other representative from the city, at the Juventus Stadium. It took Juventus only 10 minutes to establish a strong foothold in the match, going 2-0 up and despite the visitors pulling one goal back in the second half, Juventus kicked on to claim maximum points.
The 4-1 win was the perfect tonic for the meeting with Napoli on Saturday night, as Maurizio Sarri’s team had the opportunity to close within a point of the leaders and really open the Serie A title race. It took until the 50th minute for the first goal of the game to come and it was Juventus defender, Leonardo Bonucci who broke the deadlock, with a volley. However, it didn’t take long for Napoli, who were missing some key attacking players, to strike back, thanks to a good Jose Callejon strike.
Throughout the match, Juventus struggled to create any clear-cut chances but the more Napoli missed their opportunities in-front of goal, the feeling was it was going to be Juventus’ night. Gonzalo Higuain, the man who left Naples for Turin in the summer, was having a quiet night. The Argentine striker had one chance in the first half but his effort was blocked by the Napoli defence.
However, with 20 minutes left on the clock, the ball dropped to Higuain invitingly on his left foot, inside the Napoli penalty area and he made no mistake with the finish. The striker decided not to celebrate out of respect for his old club but the damage had been done by putting the ball in the back of the net and that’s all that mattered to the Juventus fans. It was far from being a vintage performance from Allegri’s team but having lost a big match last weekend, any sort of win was welcome.
Sitting five points clear of Roma at the top of the table, who have a game in hand, it appears we could be in for a two-horse race at the top of Serie A this season. The sad thing is, Juventus have hardly touched top gear yet but have still managed to build a lead at the top of the table. Perhaps this says more about the quality of the teams below them, than their own ability?
There can be little doubt however, that Higuain will be waking up today, knowing he made the right choice to join Juventus in the summer. Fast forward to the 2nd April 2017 and Higuain may begin to question it, as he and his team head to the Stadio San Paolo, for the reverse fixture against Napoli. One can only image what the atmosphere is going to be like inside and outside the stadium but one thing is for sure, Higuain can expect a rough ride.