Juventus made excellent progress on Monday evening in the race for a Champions League spot next season. At home, they beat Justin Bijlow’s Genoa 2-0, narrowing the gap to fourth-placed Como to just one point.
Juventus, with Teun Koopmeiners on the bench, got off to a flying start and had taken the lead within four minutes. A blocked attack found its way back into the box, where Gleison Bremer had lingered. The Brazilian powered home a header: 1-0.
Luciano Spalletti’s side did not rest on their laurels and actively sought a second goal. In the 17th minute, they struck again: following a lightning-fast attack, Francisco Conceição laid the ball off to Weston McKennie, who calmly slotted home to make it 2-0.
Juventus remained in complete control for the remainder of the first half, with the danger coming mainly from the wings. Through Conceição and Kenan Yildiz, McKennie also came very close to scoring a third, but miraculously managed to send the ball over the bar from point-blank range.
After the break, Juventus looked to make an immediate impact and repeatedly troubled Genoa goalkeeper Bijlow, but the score remained unchanged for a long time. McKennie was just unable to get on the end of a cross, and Jonathan David hit the post.
With fifteen minutes to go, Genoa then had the perfect opportunity to bring the tension back into the match. Following a foul by Bremer, the ball went to the spot, but Aarón Martín saw substitute Michele Di Gregorio make a fine save. The Juventus goalkeeper was then embraced by the entire team.
It was Genoa’s big chance, but in the closing stages the visitors seemed to resign themselves to defeat. Juventus saw out the match with aplomb.