Serie A, Juventus 4-2 Sampdoria: Controversial Rabiot goal helps spare Bianconeri blushes

The
France
international
put
his
team
3-2
ahead
in
a
tight
contest
at
the
Allianz
Stadium
with
his
second
goal,
despite
appearing
to
control
the
ball
with
his
arm
before
volleying
in.

Gleison
Bremer
and
Rabiot
both
scored
headers
to
put
Massimiliano
Allegri’s
side
into
a
2-0
lead,
but
Sampdoria
responded
by
striking
twice
in
as
many
minutes
through
Tommaso
Augello
and
Filip
Djuricic
before
half-time.

Rabiot
restored
the
hosts’ advantage
after
the
break
though
and
despite
Dusan
Vlahovic’s
missed
penalty,
Juve
held
out
for
an
eighth-straight
home
win
over
the
Blucerchiati
as
substitute
Matias
Soule
added
a
late
fourth.

9
–
Since
2019/20
only
Virgil
van
Dijk
(10)
has
scored
more
header
goals
than

#Bremer
(9)
amongst
the
defenders
in
the
top-5
European
Leagues.
Mountain.#JuveSamp
#SerieA
pic.twitter.com/mlAObDAUgz

—
OptaPaolo
(@OptaPaolo)

March
12,
2023

Despite
a
nervy
start,
Juventus
broke
the
deadlock
after
11
minutes
as
Bremer
towered
above
the
defence
to
head
home
Filip
Kostic’s
corner.

Another
header
doubled
the
hosts’ lead
in
the
26th
minute
when
Rabiot
buried
Fabio
Miretti’s
inviting
cross.

But
Sampdoria
–
this
season’s
lowest
scorers
in
the
top
five
European
leagues
before
Sunday
–
responded
five
minutes
later
with
Augello
neatly
guiding
in
Mehdi
Leris’
deflected
centre.

And
within
72
seconds,
they
were
level
as
Djuricic
arrived
late
in
the
box
to
steer
home
Alessandro
Zanoli’s
low
cross.

Juve
controversially
regained
the
lead
in
the
64th
minute,
the
VAR
awarding
Rabiot
a
second
goal
despite
the
ball
seeming
to
strike
the
midfielder’s
arm
before
he
brilliantly
volleyed
into
the
top
corner.

Vlahovic
missed
an
opportunity
to
kill
off
the
contest,
his
penalty
striking
the
post
after
Augello
felled
substitute
Juan
Cuadrado,
but
the
hosts
did
seal
the
points
in
stoppage
time,
Soule
nodding
in
his
first
senior
goal
after
Vlahovic’s
initial
header
was
tipped
onto
the
crossbar.