Colombian winger Juan Cuadrado was outstanding as Juventus picked up a much-needed three points with a dominant performance against Empoli. Massimilano Allegri’s men scored four goals against a listless Empoli defence which seemed to just give up in the second half.
Facing a buoyant Empoli, who had beaten Monza in a good display in their previous league game, Juve came into the Allianz Stadium desperately needing three points after dropping to eighth place in the league table.
The Old Lady got off to exactly the start that was required, as Cuadrado set up Moise Kean for the opening Juventus goal in the eighth minute. The Italian put the ball into the net from a comfortable chance after barely failing to hit the near post top corner a few minutes earlier.
Empoli had more of the ball in the game, which was not surprising considering Allegri’s counter-attack-based system. The Bianconeri did have a few chances in the first half but did not do much that amounted to something concrete.
It was in the second half that the game just seemed to go out of Empoli’s reach, as Weston McKennie doubled Juventus’ lead with a thunderous header into the Empoli net. Juventus continued to threaten the Empoli defence with threatening balls in behind the defence, but the forwards did not seem to be able to convert.
Towards the end of the game, Juventus got forward a lot more against a hapless Empoli defence. Adrien Rabiot scored two in the last ten minutes of the game to complete a thorough thrashing of Pablo Zanetti’s side. The Frenchman picked up another brace against the mid-table club, his second of the season after two goals in the Champions League encounter against Maccabi Haifa.
The win took Juventus up to sixth place in the Serie A table, leaving them three points behind the top four places, although having played a game more. Juve will have to keep up these performances if they are to challenge for the Champions League positions after their horror start to the season.
