Juve score five goals for the first time in eight years

It seems that Luciano Spalletti has managed to find the code for this Juventus team. It didn’t look that way a month ago, when Napoli not only beat them but completely outplayed them. However, from that moment on everything turned around — the Old Lady seemed to drink a magic potion and began to play much better. The giant from Turin started to look like a serious team again: lively, no longer that painful sight of a Juve unable to break down a defensive bunker and dropping a heap of points because of it. This is now dominant, confident, and at times even — fluid. That was the case against Sassuolo last round, and it was the case again against Cremonese — 5–0.

How unconvincing Juve have looked in Serie A in recent years is illustrated by the fact that this was the first time in eight years that the Old Lady scored at least five goals against a Serie A opponent. The last time it happened was on February 4, 2018, against Sassuolo, when they were ruthless (7–0). Back then, Gonzalo Higuaín was wearing the Juventus shirt — that’s how long it has been. Of course, Davide Nicola’s team is not a benchmark for anything, nor is that Sassuolo the same as this Cremonese. But don’t forget that Cremonese are the team who beat Milan at San Siro this season, won away at Bologna, and remained unbeaten against Atalanta. Yet against Juve they still “got off lightly” by conceding only five goals. We are not exaggerating when we say that. Spalletti’s side looked like the Juventus from the days when they had no equal in Serie A, and they drew level with Roma and Napoli in the standings.

It was clear very early on which way the match would go. The hosts pinned Cremonese in a vice and gave them no breathing room. A big role in that was played by Jonathan David. The Canadian has finally begun to show signs of life — the same man who had been heavily criticized for missing a penalty against Lecce and who had looked since the start of the season as if he had fallen from Mars and accidentally found himself in an environment like Juventus. In the previous match against Sassuolo he found the net and provided an assist, and against Cremonese he got on the scoresheet again. Khephren Thuram carried the ball forward and slipped David through, and the former Lille striker was ruthless. It wasn’t just the goal: he ran tirelessly, offered himself to teammates, tied up defenders, and created space. Perhaps his best performance since arriving in Turin.

Earlier, the Old Lady had taken the lead after a strange goal by Bremer. It was the 12th minute when Fabio Miretti unleashed a shot from nearly 30 meters out; the Brazilian center-back stuck out his head and changed the ball’s trajectory, sending it crashing into the net. At that point it was clear this would be a long and thoroughly unpleasant evening for the visitors from Lombardy. It was as if Juventus had chosen this very match to show that there is firepower in this team, and to make matters worse for the guests, coach Davide Nicola received a red card for protesting a penalty that was not awarded to his side. Then, just five minutes later, a penalty was given to the hosts. Emil Audero managed to save Kenan Yıldız’s shot, but the Turk was more certain on the rebound. In the second half, the Turin side toyed even more with their overmatched opponents and, through Weston McKennie, scored two more goals. By the way it looked, they could have scored just as many again — and it would not have been undeserved.

SERIE A - MATCHDAY 20

Saturday

Como - Bologna 1-1 (0-0)

/Baturina 90+4 - Cambiaghi 49/

Udinese - Pisa 2-2 (2-1)

/Kabasele 19, Davis 40 pen - Tramoni 13, Meister 67/

Roma - Sassuolo 2-0 (0-0)

/Kone 76, Soule 79/

Atalanta - Torino 2-0 (1-0)

/De Ketelaere 13, Pasalic 90+5/

Sunday

Lecce - Parma 1-2 (1-0)

/Stulic 1 - Gabriel 64 og, Pellegrino 72/

Fiorentina - Milan 1-1 (0-0)

/Comuzzo 66 - Nkunku 90/

Verona - Lazio 0-1 (0-0)

/Nelsson 79 og/

Inter - Napoli 2-2 (1-1)

/Dimarco 9, Calhanoglou 73 pen - McTominay 26, 81/

Monday

Genoa - Cagliari 3-0 (1-0)

/Colombo 7, Frendrup 75, Ostigard 76/

Juventus - Cremonese 5-0 (3-0)

/Bremer 12, David 15, Yildiz 35, Terracianno 48(og), McKennie 64/