Vlahovic bags brace as Juventus breeze past Genoa to go top of Serie A
It’s fair to say that the first half was far from a thriller, with neither team looking threatening in attack as just four shots were mustered between them in the opening 45 minutes.
Juventus were looking for their first Serie A goal since the victory at Verona in late August, and it was they who had the solitary opportunity of note just after the half-hour mark, when Vlahovic - the scorer of their last goal in the league - sent a free-kick from a promising position just over the crossbar.
Having made a slow start to the season with just one win from their opening five matches, Genoa would have been pleased to have kept the Old Lady at bay.
However, it took until just three minutes after the restart for the story to change, after a handball inside the area from Koni De Winter.
Vlahovic stepped up and made no mistake from the spot to give Thiago Motta’s side the lead.
Having been sent off the last time he’d played against Genoa, the Serbian forward had redemption on his mind and netted again just seven minutes later.
This time it was a smart move which saw him latch onto Teun Koopmeiners’ pass before finishing left-footed into the right-hand corner to make it 2-0.
Genoa were only able to manage a couple of shots on target in response, and Francisco Conceicao’s goal with one minute of normal time remaining ensured Juve ran out comfortable winners.
Well beaten in the end, Il Grifone find themselves 16th and in danger of dropping into the relegation zone, while the Old Lady can enjoy sitting pretty at the top for the time being at least.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus)