Alvaro Morata of Juventus celebrates scoring against Salernitana on November 30, 2021 in Salerno, Italy. Photo: VCG
Morata scores against Salernitana 4 minutes after coming on
Juventus striker Alvaro Morata scored four minutes after coming on to seal a 2-0 win at basement side Salernitana in Serie A on Tuesday and ease the pressure on the stuttering Turin club.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side came in for fierce criticism over the last week after a 4-0 Champions League hammering away to Chelsea and a 1-0 defeat by Atalanta, their fifth league loss of the season, but they responded at the Stadio Arechi.
Paulo Dybala had fired the visitors in front midway through the first half but Salernitana were inches away from an equaliser when Luca Ranieri hit the post after the break.
With the home side in the ascendancy, Morata came off the bench and doubled Juve’s lead by deftly flicking home a cross in the 70th minute, before Dybala missed a penalty with the final kick of the game as he lost his footing on the wet turf.
“Juventus has given so much to all of us and there are moments in life when it is time to give back. Now we need to stay close to this club, and we will come out of it together,” Juve captain Giorgio Chiellini told DAZN afterward.
Juventus remain seventh with 24 points from 15 games, seven adrift of the top four and 11 behind leaders Napoli, while Salernitana are bottom with eight points.
It has been a difficult week for Juves on and off the pitch, as the team suffered two straight defeats and on Saturday Italian finance police searched the club’s offices nL1N2SI0EV as part of an ongoing investigation into player trading.
Dybala looked lively from the start, twice testing goalkeeper Vid Belec from distance, and opened the scoring after 21 minutes by arrowing a shot into the bottom corner.
Juve almost had a second before the break but Giorgio Chiellini’s effort was disallowed for offside in the build-up.
Salernitana started the second half stronger, however, and spurned a huge chance when Ranieri was left unmarked in the box but hit the woodwork.
The visitors’ nerves were settled after Morata cleverly diverted a low cross through Belec’s legs at the front post with a flick of his boot.
Allegri’s side had the better late chances, with Belec denying Dybala one-on-one before the Argentina international slipped as he took a last-gasp penalty, firing his effort well over the bar.
Earlier, Atalanta notched up a fourth league win in a row and moved level on 31 points with third-placed Inter Milan after a Mario Pasalic hat trick fired them to a resounding 4-0 win over relegation battling Venezia in Bergamo.
Sixth-placed Fiorentina came from behind to beat Sampdoria 3-1 in Florence, while mid-table Hellas Verona were held to a 0-0 draw by second-bottom Cagliari.
Global Times
