Juventus Secures 2-0 Win Over Torino, Rises to Third in Serie A

Juventus Secures 2-0 Win Over Torino, Rises to Third in Serie A

Arkadiusz Milik of Juventus celebrates with team mates after scoring to give the side a 2-0 lead during the Serie A TIM match between Juventus and Torino FC at Allianz Stadium on October 07, 2023 in Turin, Italy. (Image-Getty)

 Juventus secured a 2-0 home victory over local rivals Torino on Saturday, with goals from Federico Gatti and Arkadiusz Milik stemming from corners, propelling them to third place in Serie A.

Juve continued their impressive record against Torino, remaining undefeated in their last 17 Serie A matches against their local rivals. Torino, in contrast, struggled to pose a significant threat throughout the game.

With 17 points, Massimiliano Allegri's side currently occupies third place in the Serie A standings, trailing Inter Milan by two points and AC Milan by one. AC Milan had a match against Genoa later on Saturday, potentially altering the rankings. Torino, on the other hand, sits in 12th place with nine points.

Allegri, despite the positive start to the season, emphasized that their primary goal remains finishing in the top four. He stated, "The objective remains the same. That doesn’t preclude us from looking at other things, because naturally, we are Juventus. We must keep our feet on the ground and bring back what for many years was normality at Juventus, in other words winning games."

Napoli and Fiorentina, occupying the fourth and fifth positions with 14 points each, will face each other on Sunday.

Federico Gatti opened the scoring for Juventus just two minutes into the second half, capitalizing on a corner that ricocheted inside the box before the defender confidently fired it into the net. The goal, initially ruled out for offside, was eventually allowed after a thorough VAR review, much to the relief of the home crowd.

Substitute Arkadiusz Milik extended the lead in the 62nd minute with a header from another corner, taking advantage of a misjudgment by Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

Allegri acknowledged that there were areas for improvement despite the win, stating, "We made some wrong choices, above all when in control of the game and 2-0 up. We should’ve gone for the shot to finish off the moves and not allow Torino to stay in the game when they were struggling."

He also noted the need to enhance their ball possession and handling skills.

Juve played without key strikers Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa, both sidelined due to injuries. This provided an opportunity for Moise Kean to start as the forward alongside Fabio Miretti. Kean initially celebrated what appeared to be a goal, skillfully placing a shot into the top corner early in the match. However, the goal was disallowed due to an offside call.

The first half was relatively lackluster, with few clear-cut chances for either side.