Boga strike helps Juventus beat Atalanta
Jeremie Boga was the matchwinner for Juventus as it defeated Serie A top-four rival Atalanta 1-0 at New Balance Arena.
The forward scored the only goal in the 48th minute, helping Juventus climb into the top four in Serie A ahead of Como's clash with Inter Milan on Monday (AEST), while La Dea is now seven points off the UEFA Champions League places in seventh.
Atalanta came racing out of the blocks, with Davide Zappacosta forcing a save from Michele Di Gregorio before Nicola Zalewski fired narrowly wide and Giorgio Scalvini's header crashed against the post in the opening nine minutes.
Juve started to find some rhythm as Khephren Thuram and Lloyd Kelly both saw efforts go just wide of the target, though La Dea went close with the final kick of the first half as Nikola Krstovic's bicycle kick flew past the left post.
The hosts were made to pay for wastefulness just three minutes into the second half. They failed to clear Emil Holm's cross, allowing Boga to prod into an unguarded net as Marco Carnesecchi was caught in no man's land.
Atalanta continued to pile on the pressure in search of an equaliser, but Di Gregorio first kept out a header from Berat Djimsiti before Gianluca Scamacca glanced an effort just over the crossbar in the 88th minute as the Bianconeri left with all three points.
Juve boss Luciano Spalletti was delighted with the victory, especially because of his side's recent struggles with fitness.
"The first half-hour, we suffered a lot, because Atalanta are a good team, and we were unable to string passes together in any situation, as they were constantly pressing us," he said.
"These are games that are worth more than three points. Unfortunately, we weren’t in the best shape coming into the match, because Kenan Yildiz and Francisco Conceicao both had fitness problems.
"I chose to start them and see how they’d do. They were both a little below-par, Thuram had an issue, too.
"Atalanta were far more tuned into the tempo of the game early on, more precise in their movements from right to left, and we didn’t find passing channels.
"In the second half, we won the ball back a few times and could've done more damage on the counter-attack, but misplaced the vertical pass.
"Considering the players who were struggling, I am pleased they put the effort in and tried to work for the team."
