Serie A: Juventus close gap on Atalanta as Moise Kean and Federico Bernardeschi score in win over Cagliari


juventus-5.png
Getty Images

Juventus are within four points of Atalanta in Serie A after a 2-0 home win over Cagliari on Tuesday boosted them behind in fourth as Moise Kean and Federico Bernardeschi signed off for the Bianconeri for 2021 with a final victory in Turin.

It took until five minutes before halftime for Massimiliano Allegri’s men to take the lead with Kean the difference between the two sides at Juventus Stadium at the break, but the Sardinians did not let the hosts bully them in the second.

The game was only safe for La Vecchia Signora when Bernardeschi was teed up by Dejan Kulusevski seven minutes from time to put the game beyond beleaguered Walter Mazzarri and his visiting players.

In fact, the most incendiary moment of the night came before the game got underway when Juventus CEO Maurizio Arrivabene tackled defender Matthijs de Ligt and agent Mino Raiola after the representative’s recent hints that the Netherlands international believes that it is time to move.

“Today players are more loyal to their agents than to the club they play for,” Arrivabene told DAZN. “De Ligt is a great defender, but he has to do his job and then we will do ours. It is very easy to speak as if you really care about the club colors, but you must prove it on the field first. We want them to do that. When the time comes, we will speak with him just like we will with other players. There will be no exceptions made.”

Elsewhere, Genoa CFC remain without a Serie A win under Andriy Shevchenko after a goalless draw with Atalanta which ended a run of four straight defeats but is their fifth stalemate in their last 10 and third scoreless tie since their last win back in September.

Genoa are expected to make moves this January to try to bolster their squad to avoid relegation from the Italian topflight, but it has been a difficult start to life for their American owners who are yet to see the Grifone win in the league with just a Coppa Italia victory over Salernitana for now.

AC Milan and SSC Napoli have the chance to pull away from both Juve and Atalanta in Wednesday’s Serie A action while AS Roma and Fiorentina can keep the pace with Allegri’s men if both pick up maximum points.





Source link