At the Allianz Stadium in Turin, Juventus hosted Empoli for the opening fixture of the 11th round of Serie A. This turned out to be the Bianconeri’s best performance since the start of the campaign, as they dismantled their Tuscan visitors with four unanswered goals. Moise Kean broke the deadlock early on. In the second half, Weston McKennie doubled the Old Lady’s lead from a corner kick, and Adrien Rabiot upstaged the event with a late brace. So here are our player ratings for Friday night’s encounter between Juventus and Empoli, which saw the hosts collecting their second win on the trot.
Juventus (3-5-2)
Wojciech Szczesny – 6.5
The former Arsenal man was only called upon on a few occasions. Nonetheless, he appeared to be in a form while pulling off confident saves en route towards another clean sheet.
Danilo – 8
While Kean was making the damage upfront, the former Real Madrid man was as essential for his team’s cause, making a string of timely interceptions to prevent an Empoli uprising. He put the cherry on top of a memorable display by providing Rabiot with an assist in added-time.
Leonardo Bonucci – 6
The captain managed to shake off what appeared to be a muscular damage before the halftime whistle and remained on the pitch for the duration of the match. He was solid at the back, but his long balls were far from accurate.
Daniele Rugani – 6.5
A decent display from the Italian defender against his former club, as he easily dealt with Satriano. This performance could encourage Massimiliano Allegri to give him additional playing time.
Juan Cuadrado – 6.5
The Colombian started his evening on a terrible note, making poor passes and losing the ball cheaply in dangerous areas. However, he redeemed himself by delivering two assists from corner kicks. He also provided Milik with some lovely crosses.
Weston McKennie – 7
The Texan initially appeared out of sorts, but his performance grew with the match. He teed up Kean with two fine crosses in the first half. Killed off the game with a powerful header that went past Vicario.
Manuel Locatelli – 7
A brilliant display from the Euro 2020 winner who commanded the play and set up the rhythm for Juventus. Picked up his teammates with precise passing, including a splendid through ball for Danilo which culminated in the fourth goal.
Adrien Rabiot – 7.5
The Frenchman has been growing from strength to strength lately. Bossed the midfield with his relentless pace and broke his lengthy Serie A drought by scoring twice in the late stages.
Filip Kostic – 7
The Serbian winger spoiled his teammates with a flurry of crosses, including the assist for Kean’s opener, as well as the one that led to the Italian’s disallowed goal. Still has room for improvement, but an encouraging display nonetheless.
Moise Kean – 8
The Italian striker looked like a man possessed from the get-go, and it didn’t take him too long to score his first goal of the season, beating Vicario with a clinical first-touch. He linked up brilliantly with his teammates, and was unlucky to have a second goal ruled out for a marginal offside call.
Dusan Vlahovic – 6
The Serbian was the ultimate Juventus hero last weekend, but he has been far less productful this time around. But his still connected decently with his teammates on some occasions while helping in forging counter attacks.
Juventus Substitutes
Leandro Paredes – 5.5
The Argentine kept the ball ticking for Juventus in the middle but without adding too much flair. Wasted a promising freekick with a poor delivery.
Arkadiusz Milik – 6
The Pole had two major chances to score. He uncharacteristically headed the first one wide and was denied by Vicario on the second.
Alex Sandro – 6
Allegri gave the Brazilian a late cameo, and the latter managed to avoid trouble at the back.
Fabio Miretti – 6
The teenager integrated well between the lines, but will be disappointed with himself for failing to beat Vicario from close range.
Samuel Iling-Junior – N/A
2 – Two of the four players born after 1/1/2000 with at least 17 goals scored in Serie A play for Juventus: Kean (17) and Vlahovic (57); between these two strikers Traoré (18) and Raspadori (19). Rampant. #JuventusEmpoli #JuveEmpoli pic.twitter.com/KL9l04Sc9O
— OptaPaolo ? (@OptaPaolo) October 21, 2022
Empoli (4-3-1-2)
Guglielmo Vicario – 6.5
Despite conceding four goals, the Italian custodian can leave the pitch with his head held high, as he pulled off as many vital saves to prevent Empoli from an even more disastrous result.
Petar Stojanovic – 5
The Slovenian had trouble in keeping Kostic at bay, failing to block the cross that resulted in the first goal. He was also beaten by McKennie in the air for the second.
Koni De Winter – 5
The Juventus loanee has been one of the revelations of this campaign, but couldn’t display his best form against his parent club. Repeatedly tortured by Kean.
Sebastiano Luperto – 6.5
A brave performance from the former Napoli defender who made a plethora of blocks and vital interceptions to keep his side in the match for as long as possible.
Fabiano Parisi – 5.5
The reported Juventus transfer target couldn’t quite showcase his talent at the Allianz Stadium, with his crosses and shots being off the mark. Had no chance against Rabiot in the air on third goal.
Nicolas Haas – 5.5
A hard working display from the Swiss midfielder, but was second best to Rabiot throughout the match.
Razvan Marin – 5
The former Cagliari man failed to impose any sort of authority in the middle of the park, struggling against the Bianconeri’s high pressing.
Filippo Bandinelli – 6
The pick of the midfield bunch for Empoli. Put Cuadrado in a sea of troubles early on, dispossessing the veteran on a couple of occasions. Provided Destro with the best chance of the match for the visitors.
Marko Pjaca – 5
It wasn’t a happy return to Turin for the Croatian who was kept in check by Locatelli.
Martin Satriano – 5
The Inter loanee managed to escape Danilo’s clutches on a single occasion, but still got caught by the Brazilian. Lost his temper which resulted in a booking.
Mattia Destro – 6
Despite the lack of service, the former Roma striker still made himself dangerous on a couple of occasions. But could have done better in his one-on-one against Szczesny.
Empoli Substitutes
Nedim Bajrami – 5
The Albanian entered in the second half in the hopes of adding some creativity to his side, but we barely saw him with the ball.
Tommaso Baldanzi – 5.5
Reminiscently to Bajrami, he entered at a time when the cause was already lost.
Sam Lammers – 5
The Dutch striker replaced Destro but was also isolated from the rest of his teammates.
Liam Henderson – 5.5
The midfielder fought hard against Cuadrado, but couldn’t exactly change the scene in the middle of the park, with Juventus continuing to dominate the proceedings until the final whistle.
Duccio Degli Innocenti – N/A
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