(Football news) Juventus have continued their winning run in thrilling style after beating local rivals Torino 4-2 at home in Serie A to keep their faint hopes of finishing in the top four alive. Massimiliano Allegri’s team were deducted 15 points by the Italian soccer court as club transfer dealings were deemed illegal but even after that they extended their league winning streak to four matches.
Even after the 15 point deduction they have moved up to seventh in the standings, six points behind Atalanta in sixth and subsequently the last place that offers European football next season. They received a boost with the return of Paul Pogba, who played his first match for Juve since returning from Old Trafford in the summer transfer window. Yann Karamoh scored the fastest goal in a Turin derby as he gave the visitors the lead after 92 seconds when he was left unmarked from a corner and finished it from close range.Juve weren’t behind for too long as they equalised after 16 minutes when Filip Kostic crossed for Juan Cuadrado, whose shot deflected off a Torino defender and beyond Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
The final minutes before the halftime break led to a flurry of activity as Antonia Sanabria restored Torino’s lead as he scored in the 43rd minute before Danilo equalised in stoppage time. The second-half started at the same intensity as Dusan Vlahovic hit the crossbar from inside the box four minutes in while Karol Linetty was close to putting Torino ahead again but his superb shot from the edge of the box hit the bar.
Pogba made his much awaited return when he came on in the 69th minute for his first Serie A appearance of the season as he received a standing ovation. The France international missed the World Cup with injury, returned to Turin last summer after spending six underwhelming seasons at Old Trafford. Gleison Bremer finally gave Juventus the lead in the 71st minute when he managed to break free from his marker and head Federico Chiesa’s cross into the goal. Juve wrapped up the win when Adrien Rabiot scored a scrappy goal from a set piece into the box and they are unbeaten in their last 16 Turin derbies in Serie A. Torino meanwhile are ninth in the league with 31 points.
“It has to be said, 10 points is still a big gap. We’d need an average of two points per game and it would be extraordinary. We have caught Bologna [eighth place] and broken away from Torino. We should also say that we earned 50 points,” Allegri told DAZN.
“It has been a long time since we have wanted Pogba back with us and we are happy. With a game every three days, we need everyone available,” Allegri said. “The lads really put in a great performance against a difficult team to break down. It was a deserved victory,”
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