|
|
|
 |
 |
| Juve keep pressure on |
 |
Juventus cemented third place in Serie A with a hard-fought win at Catania.
Simone Pepe put the Bianconeri in front after 35 minutes, but Takayuki Morimoto brought the home side deservedly level a minute later.
Two strikes from Fabio Quagliarella, who also saw a valid goal not given, earned Juventus all three points against a Catania side who had dominated the game, but lacked the killer instinct in front of the net.
Marco Biagianti shot just inches over the crossbar in the fourth minute before Pablo Ledesma only found the side-netting moments later.
Ledesma then volleyed wide of goal from a tight angle as the opening goal seemed imminent, although the only surprise was that it came at the other end.
Vincenzo Iaquinta beat the offside trap to get to the goal line and pull the ball back across the face of goal to Pepe, who struck it expertly on the half-volley into the bottom corner to put Juve ahead against the run of play.
Their joy was short-lived, however, as a poor clearance from Fabio Grosso inside the penalty area gifted the equaliser to Morimoto.
But Juve underlined their attacking efficiency as they managed to again break out of a siege on their own goal with Quagliarella striking the underside of the crossbar with the ball crossing the goal line by about a foot, but the goal was not given.
It did not matter much, though, as Quagliarella left no doubt about his first goal of the night in the 44th minute with Iaquinta again creating it with a pass back from the goal line.
A bad error by Christian Terlizzi then gifted Quagliarella his second of the night in the 58th minute.
The Juve striker picked his spot in the top left-hand corner from 18 yards to put Juve in command of a game in which they had actually struggled to keep possession.
Catania did not lose heart and Morimoto had a volley saved instinctively by Marco Storari, who then prevented Antenucci from opening the game up again.
At the other end, Quagliarella and Alessandro Del Piero both missed good chances as Juve tried to wrap things up.
Milos Krasic then missed an open goal in stoppage time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
