Juventus 3-1 Napoli
Scorers: Pereyra 13 (J), David Lopez 50 (N), Sturaro 77 (J), Pepe pen 93 (J)
Serie A – Week 38 [Saturday, 23rd May – 17:00 GMT] – Juventus Stadium
Juventus were crowned Scudetto and Coppa Italia champions in spectacular fashion, seeing off Napoli 3-1.
It was a double celebration at the Juve Stadium as the Bianconeri lifted both the Serie A and Coppa Italia trophies following the midweek victory over Lazio in extra-time. Max Allegri fielded a changed side which included Kinglsey Coman and a return to action for Kwadwo Asamoah.
Napoli started the brighter of the two sides and Dries Mertens bought an early save from Gigi Buffon. The pressure lasted for little more than the opening minutes of the game before Juve started to assert and it was a beautifully chipped pass from Kingsley Coman that played in Roberto Pereyra to open the scoring.
Coman went close to providing another assist for Alvaro Morata but there was too much weight on the through ball. Mertens hit his shot over the bar before Paul Pogba put his free kick just inches wide of the post.
The stadium errupted into applause on the 39th minute when supporters unveiled a huge banner commemorating the 39 victims of Heysel along with the names of all 39 supporters who sadly passed away 20 years ago. The banner read: ‘Nobody ever really dies if they live on in the hearts of others: For always.’
Napoli pushed for an equaliser as the second half began and Asamoah was judged to have handled the ball in the box, even through the replays suggested it wa unintentional. Lorenzo Insigne took the penalty but Buffon managed to save his effort before David Lopez fired home the rebound.
Buffon performed another spectacular save to beat away a David Lopex volley and moments later, he pushed Marek Hamsik’s header wide of the back post.
Napoli looked to have a foothold back into the game but Sturaro scored a truly sensational solo goal, gathering the ball, turning to beat Raul Albiol and curled his effort into the far top corner.
Juve killed the game off in stoppages when Miguel Britos head-butted Alvaro Morata to earn himself a red-card and gift Juventus a penalty. Simone Pepe converted from the spot, possibly scoring his last ever goal in Juve colours.
Statistics:
Man of the Match: Kingsley Coman
Flop of the Match: N/A
Fouls: 15
Corners: 3
Pass Accuracy: 85%
Shots on Target: 5
Total Shots: 13
Ball Possession: 56%
Formation: 4-3-1-2
Formation:
Lineups:
Juventus: Buffon; Padoin, Barzagli (Bonucci 46), Ogbonna, Asamoah; Pogba, Marchisio (Pirlo 71), Sturaro; Pereyra (Pepe 78); Morata, Coman
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