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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 Szczęsny.
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.
#3 Federico Chiesa continues his fine run of form for Juventus
Federico Chiesa joined Juventus from Fiorentina on a loan deal last summer, but the 23-year-old has become a mainstay under Andrea Pirlo.
He has also found his scoring boot in recent times, scoring a goal and providing an assist in Juventus' 4-0 victory over SPAL in midweek.
The Italy international continued from where he left off by opening the scoring against Sampdoria with an easy finish.
That took his tally for the season to seven goals and six assists for Juventus in all competitions. Five pf these goals and one assist have come in seven matches since the turn of the year, signifying his growing goal-threat in recent weeks.
#2 Scrappy game with more fouls than goal-mouth action
Sampdoria came into this game having scored in all but one of their previous 13 games in all competitions.
Considering their attacking threat and home advantage, it was expected that Claudio Ranieri's side would give Juventus a run for their money. Fireworks were anticipated in the pre-match buildup, but the reality proved to be much different.
Ranieri seemed to come with a game-plan of trying to stifle the champions rather than going for the win. It was not until the dying stages that the shackles were released from Sampdoria's forwards.
The game was characterised by extreme physicality, with no less than 21 fouls committed, while six yellow cards were issued. By contrast, there was very little goalmouth action, with just four shots on target recorded in the game.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo produces a quiet performance
Cristiano Ronaldo was one of several Juventus first-team players given a rest for the visit of SPAL.
However, he was back in the thick of things for the trip to Sampdoria, but it was largely a game to forget for the Portuguese superstar.
The 35-year-old showed great ingenuity to combine with Alvaro Morata in the buildup to the opening goal for Juventus. That was, however, as good as it got for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner. He was also particularly wasteful despite having more shots than all his Juventus teammates combined.
Nevertheless, just one of his five attempted shots hit the target, while some free-kicks in promising positions went begging.
