Soccer-Juventus win at Genoa as Vlahovic comes off the bench to score again
SOCCER-ITALY-GEN-J
GENOA, Italy (Reuters) -Juventus scraped a 1-0 win at Genoa in their Serie A clash on Sunday, with Dusan Vlahovic coming off the bench to score for the second successive game.
Vlahovic, who also netted in the opening-day victory over Parma, looked set to leave Juve in the close season, with the club eager to sell the Serbia striker rather than lose him for free when his contract runs out next year.
But for now the forward is proving vital at this early stage of the campaign.
The first half provided little entertainment, with the hosts having the game's first effort on target in the 26th minute.
Genoa's Mikael Ellertsson turned Joao Mario -- the only change for Juventus from their opening win over Parma, replacing the suspended Andrea Cambiaso -- in the box before getting a shot away which goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio parried.
Juve sparked into life in the final five minutes of the opening period, finally carving out decent opportunities.
Federico Gatti met a Kenan Yildiz pass across the area first time, bringing a reflex save from keeper Nicola Leali.
Leali then palmed away a Yildiz shot and when the ball fell invitingly for Jonathan David, he somehow blasted over from inside the six-yard box.
There was no real improvement after the break, and Juventus manager Igor Tudor turned to his bench in the 62nd minute, sending on Teun Koopmeiners, Filip Kostic and Vlahovic.
Kostic whipped in a corner 11 minutes later and Vlahovic sent a thumping header past Leali.
Against Parma, Vlahovic wrapped up a 2-0 win four minutes after coming on and, while it took him a little longer this time, his goal proved even more important.
There was some late drama when Di Gregorio conceded a corner in added time from a Caleb Ekuban shot and from the resulting set piece Patrizio Masini's header rattled the crossbar and the keeper scrambled the ball away in the final act of the match.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Toby Davis and Ken Ferris)
