Juventus boss Thiago Motta insists his side played well despite being held to an uneventful 0-0 draw by minnows Empoli. In a game of very few scoring opportunities, the hosts walked away happier of the two sides.
Juventus hoped to return to winning ways following a goalless draw against Roma on the stroke of the international break. However, Motta’s side failed to generate enough clear-cut chances at Stadio Carlo Castellani, racking up just three shots on target.
Empoli nearly stunned Juventus at the death as Emmanuel Gyasi squandered a glorious chance from point-blank range. Gyasi’s miss helped the traveling team keep their perfect defensive record intact and remain the only club in Serie A yet to concede this season.
Though Motta admitted Juventus didn’t get the result they wanted, he praised his team’s performance in a closely contested encounter against a spirited Empoli side.
“We go home with a point, it’s clear that it’s not what we want, certainly the result wasn’t what we wanted before the match,” the Juventus manager said, as reported by Tuttojuve. “But the performance of the boys was good at this time, and we have to continue to grow on this.“
A draw against last season’s relegation fighters wasn’t an ideal warm-up ahead of the upcoming Champions League return for Juventus. Motta’s charges will take on PSV Eindhoven in their first outing in Europe’s most prestigious club competition in over a year.
Juventus will, nonetheless, spend the night at the top of the Serie A table.
 |
Follow us on Google News for more updates on Serie A and Italian football |