At the Allianz Stadium in Turin, wounded Juventus hosted Empoli for Sunday’s early Serie A kickoff. The Bianconeri pulled off a remarkable second-half comeback to prevail by four goals to one.
Thiago Motta started with his usual 4-2-3-1 formation led by Randal Kolo Muani who had Nico Gonzalez, Weston McKennie and Kenan Yildiz in support. Teun Koopmeiners started in a slightly deeper role than usual, joining Manuel Locatelli in the double pivot.
Renato Veiga made his club debut, starting at the back with Nicolo Savona, Federico Gatti and Timothy Weah who acted as a makeshift right-back.
The contest couldn’t have started any worse for the home side, as Mattia De Sciglio, out of all people scored the opener after four minutes. The veteran was left unmarked on the corner kick, and his header went past the crowd to beat Michele Di Gregorio who allowed the ball to slip between his legs as he didn’t have a clear vision.
Empoli thought they had a chance to double their lead from the spot when Di Gregorio tripped Youssef Maleh inside the box, but VAR intervened to overturn the decision to a handball in the leadup.
Juventus tried to reply in the first half, but Gonzalez’s spectacular effort was too central, while Koopmmeiners’ shot was inadvertently blocked by McKennie.
Nevertheless, the Old Lady turned the game upside down 20 minutes into the second half thanks to Kolo Muani’s brace. The Frenchman beat Saba Goglichidze in the physical duel before finding the back of the net from an acute angle. A few minutes later, Weah’s long-range shot only needed a slight touch from Muani to wrongfoot Devis Vazquez.
Things got from bad to worse for the unlucky Empoli when Maleh earned his second booking for a high lunge on Gonzalez. Dusan Vlahovic was so eager to get on his scoresheet that he paid little heed to the three open teammates he had in support, instead going for a long-range attempt which somehow beat the shaky Vazquez.
In added time, another two substitutes combined to score the fourth for the Old Lady, as Khphren Thuram’s stunning long ball put Francisco Conceicao through on goal. Despite going full speed, the Portuguese still had the composure to produce a clinical finish.
Hence, Juventus managed to return to winning ways thanks to a superb second-half display.
