GENOA: Juventus returned to top of the Serie A standings after a 3-0 win at Genoa on Saturday as striker Dusan Vlahovic found the net twice to help Thiago Motta’s side recover their scoring touch.

Juventus, who started their campaign with consecutive 3-0 wins but drew each of their last three league games 0-0, top the table with 12 points from six games.

Genoa have one win from six games and are 16th on five points.

They are one point ahead of second-placed Torino as well as rivals AC Milan and Inter Mil­an, who were 3-2 winners at Udinese earlier on Saturday, in third and fourth, respectively.

The teams — who drew both Serie A encounters last season — started cautiously and a dull first half ended with no shots on target, with Vlahovic sending a free kick just over the bar.

But the game came alive when Juventus were awarded a penalty for Koni De Winter’s handball after the break and the Serbia striker made no mistake when he converted from the spot.

He then scored again in the 55th minute, sending a Teun Koopmeiners pass into the far bottom corner from a tight angle, before the Dutch midfielder hit the bar from close range shortly after.

Vlahovic had a chance to seal the win with a hat-trick late in the game but his header missed the target from point-blank range.

Substitute Francisco Conc­eicao sealed the win with a low, one-touch finish from near the penalty spot one minute from fulltime.

Juve have a perfect record so far of six games with a clean sheet, the first such run in the club’s history.

The last side to have managed a similar feat were AC Milan in 1993 under Fabio Capello.

The game in Genoa was pla­yed behind closed doors after crowd violence during their Coppa Italia fixture against Serie B side Sampdoria left more than 50 people injured.

Juventus travel to RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday before they host bottom side Cagliari in Serie A on Oct 6.

Earlier, Lautaro Martinez struck his first goals of the season in Inter’s entertaining win at Udinese.

Davide Frattesi’s deft finish after just 43 seconds was followed by Argentina forward Martinez’s strikes moments before and after half-time.

The win in Udine helped Inter bounce back from Milan derby defeat last weekend.

“After the derby we kept quiet and worked hard and I think you saw that on the pitch,” said Martinez to DAZN.

Martinez’s brace will be great news for coach Simone Inzaghi whose team host Red Star Belgrade in the Champ­ions League on Tuesday night.

Before Saturday, last season’s Serie A top scorer had not scored since netting the winner for his country in the Copa America final in July.

“It definitely important for me because a striker is always on the hunt for goals,” he said.

“I always say that first I work for the team, and if I manage to score then so much the better.”

In the night’s other match, Atalanta’s Lazar Samardzic snatched a late 1-1 draw at 10-man Bologna with a brilliant 90th-minute leveller ahead of their Champions League trip to Shakhtar Donetsk.

Midfielder Samardzic rammed home his equaliser seconds after striking the post, saving a point after playing with an extra man for almost all of the second half following Jhon Lucum’s 51st minute sending off.

Atalanta are ninth and level on seven points with Bologna, who face a daunting Cham­pions League trip to Anfield to take on Liverpool on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2024