Result: Juventus 3-0 Sampdoria
Date: 20 September 2020
Venue: Allianz Stadium
Cristiano Ronaldo opened his scoring account the season as Juventus began their Serie A campaign with a 3-0 win over Sampdoria on Sunday night.
Andrea Pirlo began his reign without the services of the injured Paulo Dybala, Matthijs de Ligt, Alex Sandro and Federico Bernardeschi.
The Bianconeri had the first opportunity of the match in the 11th minute. Aaron Ramsey won the ball in the Sampdoria half and released Cristiano Ronaldo into the left inside channel. The Portuguese went for power on his left foot, but Emil Audero held firm to push his effort past the post.
Two minutes later, Juve took the lead through 20-year-old wonderkid Dejan Kulusevski, who scored his first goal for the Old Lady. Ronaldo saw his surging run halted on the edge of the box, but Kulusevski pounced on the loose ball and curled a left-footed strike through a crowded penalty area which found the left-bottom corner with precision to beat the dive of Audero.
10 minutes later, Juve hit the bar. Ramsey won posssession for the home side in the middle of the park and released Ronaldo down the left flank. The Portuguese surged into the inside channel and powered an effort towards goal. However, his attempt hit the underside of the bar and bounced to safety.
Ramsey turned in the box before cutting a pass back to Ronaldo to shoot. However, the Portuguese failed to hit the target with a blast from 12 yards, placing his effort wide of the right post in the 36th minute,
In the 52nd minute, Bartosz Bereszynski raided down the right flank and cut a cross into the box. Federico Bonazzoli connected on the half-volley, but he could only steer his effort over the bar.
With twenty minutes to go, Juan Cuadrado sent a perfect cross-field pass for Mattia De Sciglio. He cut inside to shoot on his right foot, but his effort took a deflection off Bereszynski and travelled inches wide of the right post.
The Bianconeri doubled their lead in the 78th minute. Kulusevski sent a corner into a dangerous area and the visitors failed to clear. Bereszynski miscued his clearance and allowed Weston McKennie to pounce. Audero saved the American's effort, but Leonardo Bonucci was alert to tap home the rebound.
And Ronaldo, who had threatened all night, eventually got his opening goal of the season. Ramsey was the architect with an incisive pass to open up the Sampdoria defence in the right inside channel. Ronaldo displayed his composure, firing his effort across Audero into the bottom-left corner.
