Serie A: Bernardeschi inspires Juve to conquer Cagliari

Rome, Dec 22 Federico Bernardeschi took centre stage as his long-awaited goal and an assist helped Juventus dominate Cagliari 2-0 in Serie A.

Juve entered Allianz stadium on Tuesday night without injured Paulo Dybala and Federico Chiesa with Moise Kean getting the nod to pair with Alvaro Morata upfront.

The home side was close to breaking the deadlock in the 12th minute but Kean saw his header on Juan Cuadrado's floated pass rattle the upright, Xinhua reports. The goal eventually came in the 40th minute when Bernardeschi's cross-shot took a slight deflection, falling kindly into the path of Kean, who followed to head in.

The away side created a couple of chances after the break as Dalbert surprisingly fired wide from a close range while Joao Pedro forced a stunning one-handed save out of Wojciech Szczesny.

Juve punished Cagliari in the 83rd minute through a counter, as Dejan Kulusevski started the move, Bernardeschi collected the ball before sweeping in a left-footed drive from a tight angle. It is the maiden Serie A goal of the Italian international since July 2020.

With the win, the Bianconeri temporarily moved to fifth place with 34 points, four points behind fourth-placed Atalanta who were held by relegation-battlers Genoa 0-0.