Juventus F.C. were on a 16-time game unbeaten run in all competitions in the 2023/2024 Season before their Matchday 20 league encounter versus U.S. Sassuolo Calcio at home, and their striker Dušan Vlahović became the influential element who led them to achieve their 17-game invincible streak. The 23-year-old Serbian striker Dušan Vlahović scored a brace within 22 minutes to inspire the Old Lady to a 3-0 win in the Italian Serie A and the comfortable victory saw Juventus F.C. move within 2 points from leaders of the Italian top-flight football Inter Milan with 18 games to spare.
Dušan Vlahović’s First-Half Brace Sealed the Deal for the Old Lady
Juventus’s current undefeated streak started since the end of September 2023, where they won 13 and draw thrice in their 16 games in all competitions prior to the U.S. Sassuolo Calcio league game at home; It is worth pointing out that the away side for the Old Lady clash at Allianz Stadium yesterday were also the team who defeated them prior to their 16-game invincible run, having lost to U.S. Sassuolo Calcio with a 4-2 score line at Stadio Città del Tricolore.
Dušan Vlahović put his team in front as early as the 15th minute, when Gian Ferrari’s poor pass was intercepted by Juventus and the players immediately raced forward to punish the visitors. Dušan Vlahović received the ball just outside the penalty box, and the young Serbian striker curled a wonderful effort into the top left corner for the opening goal of the game. Dušan Vlahović would go on to score another eight minutes before the added time of the first half, this time firing a shot to the other top corner from a freekick set piece. The brace gave Dušan Vlahović one goal shy from registering double digits of tallies in the 2023/2024 Season.
Juventus played the second 45 minutes without any sorts of pressure thanks to Dušan Vlahović’s brace, and the team’s 57th-minute replacement Federico Chiesa managed to put the icing on the cake during the closing stages of this Italian top-flight football encounter. Another substitute Arkadiusz Milik won the ball back for the home side at opponents’ half, before Manuel Locatelli set up the Italian international Chiesa for an attempt. His effort was not the most solid one, but it was able to creep past Andrea Consigli for Juventus’s third, sealing their sixth straight win in all competitions.
⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️➕🅰️🅰️ in his last 4 Serie A games 🇷🇸 pic.twitter.com/N2mIYJWtFI
— 433 (@433) January 16, 2024
Dušan Vlahović: “Let’s Continue Like This.”
Hero of Juventus‘s 3-0 victory with a brace under his belt Dušan Vlahović had this to say during the post-match conference: “We prepare for all the matches as if they were the last of the season: we go step by step, we give everything. And let’s continue like this, already thinking about the next one. I’m happy to have scored, I thank everyone, the fans are really important to us; Chiesa deserved his goal, I get along well with him, we are friends, but I also play well with Yildiz, for me the most important thing is the result.”
Dušan Vlahović’s head coach Massimiliano Allegri was also jubilant with their triumph. “Everything seems easy after that: Sassuolo are a stealthy team, on our corner kick they transitioned well and could have reopened the game, but Szczesny was great. For the rest of the game, however, it was good, we’ve now got 16 points over fifth place in the standings, which is important,” said the manager who led his team to a 17-game unbeaten run and a six-game winning streak in all competitions.
Allegri also gave a few words on his best player of the evening Dušan Vlahović and other members. “Tonight I’m happy with the team’s evidence of maturation, Vlahovic was calm and it showed. He went through a difficult time physically, but now he is confident, he has time ahead of him to reach the necessary maturity. Cambiaso? An intelligent player with technique, but I’m happy with everyone, we have to keep our feet on the ground, even those who came in later did very well. Chiesa, who is doing well, and Yildiz, who is a player with great technique, also did well.”
Juventus 2 Points Away From the Summit of the Italian Serie A
With the 3-0 victory at home thanks to Dušan Vlahović’s brace, Juventus collected 49 points out of a possible 60 after 20 league games, trailing the current best team of the Italian Serie A and 19-time champions Inter Milan by only a couple of points. Both European and domestic juggernauts are set to face each other for the return leg of their league clash at San Siro early next month, and that 251st Derby d’Italia could well decide the winners of this season’s Italian top-flight football with less than half a season to go. Catch the intriguing matchup and any other competitions in world football via AsiaSport.com, the only name you need to bookmark for anything football matches!
Elsewhere in another Italian Serie A powerhouses, AS Roma parted ways with legendary football head coach José Mourinho after two and a half seasons following a poor run of late. The Portuguese management maestro previously led AS Roma to win the 2021/2022 UEFA Conference League and he will be replaced by former AS Roma captain and player Daniele De Rossi, who have been appointed as the new AS Roma manager until 30th June 2024, which is the end of the 2023/2024 Season. If you want to know more about this story on the Special One, we have covered all the details you need about it in this article, feel free to give it a thorough read right away!
