After beating Salernitana in midweek, Juventus continued their tour against the league’s most struggling sides. The Bianconeri hosted Genoa at the Allianz Stadium and easily brushed their opponents aside with a dominating performance from start to finish. Juan Cuadrado shocked Salvatore Sirigu with a direct goal from a corner kick, and although the veteran goalkeeper managed to keep the Grifone in the match for as long as possible, Paulo Dybala’s goal sealed all three points for the Old Lady. So here are our player ratings for the encounter between Juventus and Genoa which ended 2-0 in favor of the hosts.
Juventus XI
Wojciech Szczesny – 6
The former Arsenal man was pretty much a spectator, as the visitors failed to threaten him with a single shot on goal.
Juan Cuadrado – 7.5
Corner kick goals are a rare happening in the sport, but you wouldn’t believe it after witnessing two in one Serie A weekend. While Hakan Calhanoglu’s goal came from a cheeky effort, the Colombian’s spectacular corner sailed above Sirigu (who was at the top of his game) before landing in the far corner. He was always dangerous when supporting Kulusevski from the right side.
Matthijs de Ligt – 6.5
The Dutchman enjoyed a comfortable night at the back, easily dealing with the hapless Bianchi, but will be disappointed with himself for not putting his name on the scoresheet, as his free header was denied by Sirigu.
Giorgio Chiellini – 7
The Juventus captain marshalled the backline with ease, making several key interceptions to make sure that his goalkeeper wouldn’t be bothered for the entire match.
Luca Pellegrini – 6.5
The young Italian is growing in confidence with every performance, and helped his side dominating the left flank during the first half. It remains to be seen why Max Allegri took him off at halftime, but earning a yellow card might have played a part in the decision.
Manuel Locatelli – 7
The former Sassuolo man absolutely bossed the midfield from the first to the last whistle. Made some vital tackles in the middle of the park, linked up brilliantly with his teammates and put Kulusevski through with a delightful long ball.
Rodrigo Bentancur – 6.5
The Uruguayan is beginning to build a solid partnership with Locatelli. Retrieved the ball with ease on several occasions, including one that should have led to a goal but was wasted by Dybala.
Dejan Kulusevski – 6
An encouraging performance from the young Swede who is slowly beginning to find his best form again. Caused danger with his runs on the right, but was selfish on some occasions as he looked desperate for a goal.
Paulo Dybala – 7.5
The Argentine is the heart and soul of this Juventus side. Fought hard for every ball, dropped back to help in the build up, provided some lovely balls for Morata, and although he was wasteful on one or two occasions, he grabbed the goal that he deserved with a clinical finish.
Federico Bernardeschi – 6.5
The Euro 2020 winner delivered a sublime cross for de Ligt which should have been a goal, but ended up providing a smart assist for Dybala’s strike. His shooting remains wayward, but still a decent performance overall.
Alvaro Morata – 6
The former Real Madrid striker should have scored when Dybala’s cross put him one-on-one against Sirigu. However, it was still a respectable display from the Spaniard who worked hard, chased every ball and tried to set up his teammates on many occasions.
Juventus Substitutes
Alex Sandro – 6
The Brazilian entered in the second half and was less involved in the attacking phase compared to Pellegrini, but he did make occasional runs forward.
Moise Kean – 5.5
The young Italian almost immediately got himself booked after coming on, and couldn’t threaten Genoa’s goal.
Adrien Rabiot – N/A
Kaio Jorge – N/A
8 – Juan Cuadrado is the eighth player to have scored a Serie A goal directly from the corner since the start of the last decade, after:
Di Natale (2010)
M. Rigoni (2012)
Papu Gómez (2015)
de Paul (2017)
Callejón (2017)
Pulgar (2018)
Calhanoglu (2021)Incredible.#JuveGenoa
— OptaPaolo ? (@OptaPaolo) December 5, 2021
Genoa XI
Salvatore Sirigu – 7.5
Despite conceding from a direct corner kick, the former PSG goalkeeper put on a heroic performance to prevent an embarrassing result for the visitors, pulling off stunning saves to deny the likes of de Ligt, Morata and Dybala. Appeared to be a one-man-team at times.
Davide Biraschi – 6
The Italian center back couldn’t keep up with Dybala on the second goal, but was arguably the best of the defensive bunch at Genoa, making some decent interventions at times.
Mattia Bani – 5.5
The former Chievo man tried to stay up close and personal with Morata, but the Spaniard managed to escape him at times.
Johan Vazquez – 5.5
The Mexican attempted to keep Kulusevski at bay, but he left the Juventus winger with too much space on counter attacks in the second half.
Paolo Ghilione – 4.5
The right wingback caused havoc for Genoa as he kept clumsily losing the ball inside his own area.
Velon Behrami – 5
The former Lazio and Fiorentina man showed his age as he couldn’t cope with Dybala’s movement in the middle, and got booked for pushing the Argentine off the ball.
Hernani – 5.5
The former Parma man tried to make something going for the Ligurians but the midfield battle was a lost cause for his side.
Abdoulaye Touré – 5
The Frenchman is a physically strong midfielder but couldn’t add much to help Genoa in the battle for possession.
Andrea Cambiaso – 6
The young wingback was his team’s best outfield player. Kept his composure in his personal duel against Cuadrado and even denied the Colombian’s shot with a vital block. His few runs forward were the exclusive source of danger for the Rossoblu.
Flavio Bianchi – 4.5
The young Italian’s night never got going. Was barely seen for as long as he lasted on the pitch.
Caleb Ekuban – 5
The striker tried to make some runs to the box, but often found Chiellini in his way, preventing him from taking a single shot at goal.
Genoa Substitutes
Goran Pandev – 5
The North Macedonia legend rarely saw the ball after coming in.
Manolo Portanova – 5.5
The former Juventus man tried to add some flair to the midfield after entering the pitch, but it was a lost battle at that point
Pablo Galdames – 5
The Chilean almost gifted Juventus a goal after losing possession in the middle.
Zinho Vanheusden – N/A
Filippo Melegoni – N/A