Dybala off the mark as Juve shines
Paulo Dybala scored his first goal of the season as a dominant Juventus flexed its muscles in a 2-0 Serie A win over Bologna.
The Italian champion raced into a two-goal lead within 16 minutes through Dybala and Blaise Matuidi and, with Cristiano Ronaldo at the heart of a Bianconeri attack that is starting to gel, there were spells when Juve tormented its embattled visitors.
Bologna has taken only four points from six Serie A matches and, while it showed intent in flashes at Juventus Stadium, the game rarely threatened to turn into a contest.
Massimiliano Allegri's men have made the strongest start to a season of any Juventus side in the post-war era, with seven wins from their first seven matches in all competitions for the first time since 1930/1931.
Dybala's quick thinking paid off after 11 minutes when he allowed a long ball to hit the back of his neck before hooking the rebound from Matuidi's saved shot into the net from an acute angle.
Matuidi added the second when Ronaldo's mishit cross rolled across the face of goal and Bologna's defenders failed to react, allowing the France international to collect it and launch a shot into the roof of the net.
A fluent first half gave way to a classic defensive performance from Juve after the interval, with Bologna's only shot on target of the half coming from a Ladislav Krejci free-kick that Mattia Perin dashed across his goal to save.
The visit of Napoli to Juventus Stadium at the weekend should provide Juve with the kind of stern test its defence looks well capable of dealing with, while Bologna will hope for a repeat of its performance against Roma when it meets Udinese at home.