Juventus eased into the quarter-final stages of the Coppa Italia with a 4-1 win over Sampdoria at the Allianz Stadium.
Juan Cuadrado was captain on the night and he led by example, firing Juventus into the lead after 25 minutes.
He struck a free-kick on the edge of the box hard and low, assisted by a slight deflection, before rocketing beyond Wladimiro Falcone.
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Less than 60 seconds later Juventus doubled their lead through Alvaro Morata after a neat finish from 12 yards out, but after a speedy VAR check showed a foul in the build-up, the goal was ruled out.
Juventus’ lead was eventually doubled five minutes into the second period. A short corner found Cuadrado, who floated an inviting ball for Daniele Rugani to rise highest and deflect the ball beyond Falcone and into the far corner.
Sampdoria claimed a goal back just after the hour mark, Andrea Conti drilled a neat strike across goal which nestled into the bottom right corner.
Shortly before Sampdoria’s goal, Paulo Dybala was introduced and within five minutes of his arrival, restored the Old Lady’s two-goal cushion. Manuel Locatelli pounced on a mix-up at the back between Falcone and Bartosz Bereszynski, which allowed Dybala to latch onto a loose ball and fire home from close-range.
Despite signs of resilience from Sampdoria to get themselves back into the game, it was put beyond doubt as Alvaro Morata dispatched a penalty with ten minutes to play.
TALKING POINT – JUVENTUS MUST DO EVERYTHING TO KEEP HOLD OF DYBALA
Juventus’ main man Paulo Dybala’s contract talks with the club are unclear, and there are rumours he may not renew his deal to keep him at the Allianz Stadium.
He was rested tonight as the Old Lady find themselves in a difficult title race, and as Sampdoria crept back into tonight’s game to make the score 2-1 after a string of missed Juventus opportunities, Max Allegri luckily had his star man to call upon.
Five minutes after his introduction, he restored Juventus’ two-goal cushion and had a hand in some really impressive Juventus football as they went on to sweep Sampdoria aside and book their place in the next round of the Coppa Italia.
MAN OF THE MATCH – JUAN CUADRADO
A goal and an assist for tonight’s Juventus skipper capped off a superb performance by the Columbian. He was the driving force in this tie, with everything seemingly flowing through the wide man.
He blasted the host’s into the lead with his hard and low free-kick, and almost had another assist a minute later when he cleverly set up Alvaro Morata before the Spaniard’s goal was disallowed for a foul in a previous transition of play.
The 33-year-old suggested he still has plenty to offer. He had one of those games where he looked as if soemthing was going to happen every time he had the ball at his feet, and it usually did. He could have had a few assists to his name tonight, but depsite the scoreline Juventus weren’t at their best in front of goal.
MATCH RATINGS
JUVENTUS: Perlin 6, De Sciglio 6, Danilo 7, Alex Sandro 7, Rugani 8, Arthur 7, Cuadrado 9, Rabiot 6, Locatelli 8, Kulusevski 8, Morata 7.
Subs: Chiellini 6, Dybala 8, Jorge N/A, Bentancur 6, Aké 7
SAMPDORIA: Falcone 7, Thorsby 6, Augello 5, Torregrossa 6, Caputo 5, Conti 7, Askildsen 5, Bereszynski 5, Magnani 5, Murru 6, Rincon 5, Tufano 5
Subs: Ciervo N/A, Vieira 4, Dragusin N/A, Gabbiadini 5, Candreva 5
KEY MOMENTS
25’ – GOAL! JUVENTUS 1-0 SAMPDORIA (CUADRADO): What a finish! Cuadrado fires it low and hard and after what looks like a slight deflection, rockets past Falcone and Juventus take the lead.
27’ – GOAL DISALLOWED! – Morata has the ball in the back of the net immediately after the restart but after a quick VAR check showed a foul in the build-up, the goal is ruled out. It remains 1-0.
52’ – GOAL! JUVENTUS 2-0 SAMPDORIA (RUGANI): The ball is floated in by Cuadrado after another short Juventus corner, and Ragani rises highest to deflect the ball beyond Falcone and into the far corner.
63’ – GOAL! JUVENTUS 2-1 SAMPDORIA (CONTI): And just like that, Sampdoria are back in the game! Conti drills a superb strike across goal as the ball nestles into the far corner. The visitor’s back in it!
67’ – GOAL! JUVENTUS 3-1 SAMPDORIA (DYBALA): Minutes after his arrival, Dybala restores Juventus’ two-goal lead! It’s a mix-up at the back as Falcone plays it short but Locatelli is quick to intercept, allowing Dybala onto the loose ball to fire in Juventus’ third from close-range.
77’ – GOAL! JUVENTUS 4-1 SAMPDORIA (MORATA): Morata finally gets his goal! He fires his penalty into the bottom right corner. Game over!
KEY STAT
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