Sampdoria 0-2 Juventus: 5 Talking Points as Bianconeri go third in the league table | Serie A 2020-21
Goals in each half from Federico Chiesa and Aaron Ramsey helped Juventus pick up a 2-0 victory away to Sampdoria in a 2020-21 Serie A game..
After naming a youthful side for the mid-week Coppa Italia clash with SPAL, Andrea Pirlo had his full complement of heavy-hitters for the trip to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
The game started in a relatively slow fashion, with Juventus having a lot of possession but struggling to create anything of note. The visitors, however, got their breakthrough in the 20th minute through Chiesa when he finished off a well-worked move by Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata.
Ronaldo was also denied by an excellent tackle by Maya Yoshida before Antonio Candreva shot straight at Wojciech SzczΔsny.
A severe-looking clash of heads between Juan Cuadrado and Tommaso Augello at the start of the second half ended with the latter getting a bandaged and bloodied head, but both men played on.
Morata had the ball in the back of the net soon after, but the goal was rightly chalked off for offside.
The hosts waited until the dying embers of the game to get the sail in their wind. Sampdoria threatened to get an equaliser in the final ten minutes of the game, but Juventus held firm to protect their lead.
Aaron Ramsey replaced Arthur in the 83rd minute, and the Welshman made sure of the result with an injury-time goal.
Juan Cuadrado drew Audero out before teeing up Ramsey, who tapped in to give his side a comfortable victory.
The win sees Juventus move two points above Roma into third in the league table. On that note, let us have a look at five talking points from the fixture.
#5 Juventus keep their Serie A hopes alive with three crucial points
The 2020-21 Serie A title race is gearing up to be one of the closest in recent memory.
A 2-1 victory by table-toppers AC Milan earlier in the day had temporarily sent them five points clear at the top of the table. So anything but a victory would have made things more complicated for Juventus in their quest to retain their league title.
Despite not playing at their best, Juventus did enough to get all three points to keep themselves alive in the title race. Up next for Juventus is the visit of AS Roma, a game that could have a bearing on the league table.
#4 Defeat for Sampdoria is a blow to their European aspirations
Sampdoria, who currently sit in tenth place in the league table, had outside chances of securing European qualification ahead of Juventus' visit.
A victory over the defending champions would have helped them close the gap on the clubs occupying the European spots. However, that was not to be.
Their conservative game-plan limited their attacking verve as Juventus' professional display condemned the hosts to a fifth defeat on home turf this season.
It also means Sampdoria's hopes of qualifying for Europe are all but dashed.