Juventus answered the Serie A call as they brushed aside Sassuolo in the final game of matchday one. The Bianconeri were the last potential Scudetto contender to take the field after Milan, Inter, Napoli, and Roma all had made a full score in their seasonal debut.
Their answer was loud and clear as Angel Di Maria’s first goal in Italy and a brace from Dusan Vlahovic made short work of a Sassuolo side whose head was still on the transfer market. Napoli-bound striker Giacomo Raspadori was left on the bench as club CEO Giovanni Carnevali openly said that he was “confused by market rumors“.
With midfield dynamo Maxime Lopez kept at bay by an injury and new joiner Andrea Pinamonti only fit for the bench, Sassuolo were just powerless against the Old Lady, who needed a convincing win after their disastrous setback with Atletico Madrid only one week ago.
Massimiliano Allegri started with a 4-4-2 setup where Di Maria partnered with Vlahovic upfront. He then switched to a 4-3-3, moving Juan Cuadrado higher up the pitch. Mattia Perin replaced the injured Wojciech Szczesny between the sticks but didn’t have much work to do.
Alex Sandro was deployed at left back instead of Mattia De Sciglio and that was a tactical decision that soon paid off. The Brazilian was indeed the one to serve Di Maria a perfectly-timed cross, which El Fideo turned into Juventus’ opener.
Forty-three minutes into the game, it was Alex Sandro again to provide another brilliant filtering pass for Vlahovic. The Serbian was pushed down in the box by Gian Marco Ferrari and the referee had no doubt in awarding a penalty to the Bianconeri. Vlahovic buried the spot to score his first penalty since he joined Juventus back in January.
Alessio Dionisi sent in Raspadori after the restart but there was not time for the young Azzurro to make an impact as Juve made it three five minutes into the second half. Di Maria took advantage of a Kaan Ayhan mistake and served Vlahovic a delicious assist, which DV9 converted with a sharp right-foot conclusion.
That was basically the end of the game. There was still time to see new signing Filip Kostic on the pitch, as well as youngsters Nicoló Fagioli and Fabio Miretti before Juventus wrapped up a match that never seemed in discussion.
A good first take for the Bianconeri, whose only sour note of the night was Di Maria picking up a thigh injury. It remains to be seen for how long the Argentinian will need to recover.
MATCH SCORECARD
August 15, 2022 – Serie A 2022-2023 Round 1
JUVENTUS – SASSUOLO 3-0
SCORERS: 26′ Di Maria, 42′ Vlahovic pen., 50′ Vlahovic
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JUVENTUS (4-4-1-1): Perin; Danilo, Bonucci, Bremer, Alex Sandro (61′ De Sciglio); Cuadrado (61′ Kostic), Zakaria, Locatelli (76′ Fagioli), McKennie (76′ Soulé); Di Maria (65′ Miretti); Vlahovic (Garofani, Pinsoglio, Gatti, Rugani, Rovella, De Graca) Coach: Allegri |
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SASSUOLO (4-3-3): Consigli; Muldur (7′ Toljan), Ayhan, Ferrari, Rogerio; Frattesi (70′ Ceide), Henrique, Thorstvedt (70′ Harroui); Berardi, Defrel (46′ Raspadori), Kyriakopoulos (59′ Pinamonti) (Pegolo, Russo, Marchizza, Erlic, Tressoldi, Obiang, D’Andrea, Alvarez) Coach: Dionisi |
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Locatelli (J), Thorstvedt, Ferrari, Henrique (S); Added Time: 1st Half: 4′, 2nd Half: 4′
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