Juventus 3 - 1 US Sassuolo Calcio: Early Higuain double sets up Juventus win

Posted Sunday, September 11, 2016 by PA

Gonzalo Higuain scored twice in the first 10 minutes as Juventus saw off Sassuolo with a blistering start in Turin on Saturday.

Miralem Pjanic added a third for the in-form hosts before the half-hour mark before Luca Antei grabbed what turned out to be a consolation goal for the visitors before the break.

Juventus, who went into the game looking to extend their perfect start to the season, could have been forgiven for wondering what to expect from Eusebio de Francesco's side.

Despite a fantastic unbeaten start to their UEFA Europa League campaign, Sassuolo's domestic form deserted them last time out in a 3-0 home defeat to Pescara.

Initially it looked like the hosts could in for a tough test when Matteo Politano was only denied a shock early opener for Sassuolo by a brilliant one-handed save from Gianluigi Buffon.

But Juventus settled their early nerves and with just four minutes on the clock they went ahead when Higuain picked up a through ball from Paulo Dybala and blasted the opener past Andrea Consigli.

And just six minutes later Higuain scored a spectacular second when he scythed home a volley from close to the penalty spot to round off a sustained spell of Juventus pressure in style.

Shell-shocked Sassuolo almost conceded a third to Higuain as they struggled to get out of their own half, while Leonardo Bonucci flashed a header inches wide.

A sublime spell of possession football from Juve ended in an inevitable third goal just before the half-hour, with Pjanic in the right place in the box to score at the second attempt.

Dybala had a penalty appeal waved away before crossing for the Croatian, whose initial header crashed back off the bar but fell nicely for him to stretch and knock in the rebound.

The home side seemed to be cruising but a rare mistake by Buffon gave Sassuolo a glimmer of hope in the 33rd minute, the keeper flapping at a corner then watching as the ball ricocheted into the net off the fortunate Antei.

Sami Khedira fired just over the bar and Mehdi Benatia almost caught out Consigli with a cheeky back-heel deep into injury time as the home side shrugged off their setback and ended the first half on top.

Juventus showed no sign of easing up in the opening moments of the second period, with Consigli having to be at his best to parry another effort from Khedira before producing an even better save to deny Pjanic his second.

Higuain again came close to completing his hat-trick when he saw a goal-bound shot strike Antei, while Consigli continued to impress in the visitors' goal with a great save to deny Stephan Lichtsteiner.

Mario Mandzukic and Pjanic also went close before Sassuolo almost grabbed a second in the dying minutes, Politano rounding Buffon only for his effort to be booted off the line by Lichtsteiner.