Juventus Reach Serie A Summit as Boss Massimiliano Allegri Warns They Are Still to Hit Top Form

Two second half goals from Sami Khedira and Gonzalo Higuain were enough for Juventus to eventually defeat nine-man Chievo at their Stadio Marc'Antionio Bentegodi on Saturday night. The win made sure that Le Zebre now move two points clear of long term leaders Napoli, at the top of Serie A, who play Bologna at home on Sunday afternoon. 

Juventus continued on their fabulous run and their latest league victory - their 6th in the last 7 games - ensured their unbeaten record in all competitions continued which now stretches to an incredible 21 matches.

Even prior to Chievo being down to nine men with Samuel Bastien and Fabrizio Cacciatore's dismissals, Allegri's side were in control of the contest, although a little laboured in their approach at times. 

Wojciech Szczęsny was a bystander for much of the match in Juve's goal, as they probed and teased the determined home side until they finally relented to Khedira's powerful strike in 67th minute. 

(You may also be interested in Chievo 0-2 Juventus: Juventus reach Serie A summit after hard fought win over Chievo's 9 men)

Speaking to the club's official website after the contest Juventus' manager Allegri said: “We had to work hard for it because Chievo's movement was really good today.

“We didn't get at them enough in the first half and they were happy to sit back and wait for us. We were beaten to the ball too many times and we seemed desperate to break the deadlock, but you have to keep your heads in games like this.

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“We shifted the ball around too slowly and that made it easy for Chievo to get themselves into position. In the second half, once they'd gone down to nine men it became a lot easier, although we still weren't spreading play out much, as we should have been.

"We're not in top form at the moment but we need to up the tempo instead of just playing the ball sideways.”

Juve are next in action on Tuesday night as they travel to play Atalanta in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi final hoping to maintain their impressive sequence of results.