Juventus continued their winning run in thrilling style after beating local rivals Torino 4-2 at home in Serie A on Tuesday to keep alive their faint hopes of finishing in the top four.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side, who had 15 points deducted by an Italian soccer court investigating the club’s transfer dealings, extended their league winning streak to four matches.
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They are seventh in the standings — six points behind Atalanta in the sixth and last place that offers European football next season — but could receive a further boost with the return of Paul Pogba, who played his first match for Juve since returning from Manchester United last summer.
“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.
The crowd at the Allianz Stadium had barely time to find their seats before Torino scored the fastest Serie A goal ever in Turin’s “Derby della Mole.”
Yann Karamoh gave the visitors the lead after 92 seconds when he was left unmarked from a corner and finished from close range.
Juve equalised after 16 minutes when Filip Kostic ran into the box and crossed for Juan Cuadrado, whose shot deflected off a Torino defender and beyond keeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
The final minutes before the break led to a flurry of activity as Antonia Sanabria scored for Torino in the 43rd before Danilo headed in the equaliser in stoppage time.
The second-half started at the same intensity, with Juve striker Dusan Vlahovic thumping the crossbar from inside the box four minutes in.
Karol Linetty was close to putting Torino ahead again halfway into the second half, but his superb curled shot from the edge of the box hit the bar.
Pogba came on in the 69th minute for his first Serie A appearance of the season and received a standing ovation. The France international, who missed the World Cup with injury, returned to Turin last summer after spending six seasons at Old Trafford.
“It had been a long time we wanted Pogba back with us and we are happy. With a game every three days, we need everyone available,” Allegri said.
Gleison Bremer put Juve ahead in the 71st minute when he managed to break free from his marker and head Federico Chiesa‘s cross into the net.
Juve effectively wrapped up the win 10 minutes later when Adrien Rabiot bundled in a set piece into the box and they are now unbeaten in their last 16 Turin derbies in Serie A.
“The lads really put in a great performance against a difficult team to break down. It was a deserved victory,” Allegri said.
Torino are ninth in the league with 31 points.