Turin, December 6 (BNA): Juan Cuadrado scored a direct goal from a corner kick to easily beat Juventus 2-0 at struggling Genoa on Sunday to climb to fifth place in coach Massimiliano Allegri’s 250th win in Serie A.
Cuadrado scored a powerful shot in the far top corner after eight minutes to put the old lady ahead in unconventional circumstances, and Paulo Dybala sealed the three points with a late strike, Reuters reported.
It is the eighth direct corner kick goal scored in Serie A since 2010, but oddly enough is the second at the weekend after Hakan Calhanoglu’s attempt for Inter Milan in a 3-0 win over Roma on Saturday. Read more
“He told us he was going to cross it,” Dybala told DAZN.
“We controlled the whole match, and the defenders did a good job of pushing us forward. Obviously we were calmer after Cuadrado’s goal, but we should have finished that sooner.”
Juventus’ tally rose to 27 points, seven points behind Atalanta in fourth place, and Allegri became the second coach in the era of winning three points to reach 250 victories in the league after Carlo Ancelotti with 275, with 150 of them coming. Juventus.
Andriy Shevchenko awaits his first win as the Genoa coach continues, with the Ukrainian team remaining in 18th place with 10 points.
Juventus’ margin of victory could have been much larger as they enjoyed complete control of the guests, and finished the night with 70% possession and 27 shots to zero for Genoa.
Cuadrado’s superb effort from the corner flag opened the scoring, and Shevchenko has since had goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu’s side to give thanks for keeping the score low.
The Italy international saved a header from Matthijs de Ligt from close range and stopped Alvaro Morata’s attempt in the first half before the Spaniard denied again with one hand after the break.
Sirigu saved two crucial goals in quick succession in the 65th minute, defeating Dybala’s goal when he was one-on-one before passing his hand to Cuadrado’s shot.
Morata got into a heated argument with Allegri on the touchline when he was substituted in the 73rd minute, but Juve’s nerves calmed when Dybala hit the ball in the bottom corner with eight minutes remaining.
“I did not decide to replace him, but he was booked and I preferred to take him off,” Allegri explained.
“There was nothing and I’m sorry, because Alvaro played a great game, even without scoring.”