Juventus climb into Serie A top four with thrashing victory of Sassuolo

Juventus celebrate against Sassuolo
Juventus celebrate against SassuoloIPA Sport/ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia

A goal and an assist for Jonathan David helped Juventus secure a comfortable 3-0 victory over Sassuolo at the Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore, their eighth win in their past 10 matches in all competitions.

Juventus’ quest for a top-four spot in the ever-competitive Serie A suffered a blow last time out when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Lecce, but they impressed in the first half here. 

Sassuolo’s Kristian Thorstvedt had the game’s first chance inside five minutes, dragging a shot wide, yet from that point on it was effectively all Juve.

Kenan Yıldız was the chief tormentor, forcing home goalkeeper Arijanet Muric into no fewer than four saves prior to the interval, three of which kept out fierce attempts.

The Bianconeri did go into the break with the lead, although in rather fortuitous circumstances as Tarik Muharemović headed Pierre Kalulu’s cross beyond Muric and into the back of his own net.

Match stats
Match statsStatsPerform

After the restart, the match followed the same pattern, with Juventus dominating a side that came into this clash without a win in their past four matches.

Khéphren Thuram worked Muric with a shot from an angle before David, who has struggled since his summer arrival, took centre stage.

It was the Canada international who fed Fabio Miretti, allowing the midfielder to drive towards goal and fire into the corner, before the ex-Lille man pressed high to win back possession and round Muric prior to slotting into the corner for his first Serie A goal since the opening day of the campaign.

That strike ended any already slim hopes of a comeback for a Sassuolo side who were toothless from start to finish.

This result means they have now won just one of their previous seven games on home turf, but they remain in mid-table in their first season back in the top flight.

Juve, meanwhile, move up to fourth and, with fixtures against bottom-half outfits Cremonese and Cagliari up next, they will be confident of continuing their current rich vein of form.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Jonathan David (Juventus)

See a summary of the match here