Bremer and McKennie on target as Juventus beat Genoa to consolidate fifth in Serie A

[p]If Luciano Spalletti told his players to “use their heads” before the game, they took him all too literally, but to full effect.[/p][p][b]Less than four minutes were played when a half-clearance was headed back into the danger area by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/thuram-kephren/bDU1sgDT/"]Khephren Thuram[/a], helped on by the head of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kelly-lloyd/tSGNL9qB/"]Lloyd Kelly[/a], and headed in by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bremer/INWVBb0R/"]Bremer[/a], albeit with a big deflection to take it past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bijlow-justin/65xR64Rt/"]Justin Bijlow[/a]. [/b][/p][p]Thuram went close with an effort from 25 yards minutes later, but Juve’s brilliant start was rewarded with a second goal in the 17th minute.[/p][p][b]On a counter-attack, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mckennie-weston/jZHxRi2A/"]Weston McKennie[/a] swept the ball wide to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/chico-conceicao/n53v4sSd/"]Francisco Conceicao[/a], who drew the defence before laying the ball back for the American to unleash a low, first-time strike.[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/genoa/d0PJxeie/"]Genoa[/a] finally managed to enjoy a spell of pressure midway through the half, but their lack of end product could be best explained by the next shot on goal being a curling effort from the hosts’ [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/yildiz-kenan/0EgOZVie/"]Kenan Yildiz[/a], which was comfortably saved.[/p][p]The home side should have all but wrapped the game up two minutes before half-time, when Yildiz knocked Conceicao’s deep cross back across goal, but somehow, McKennie cleared the crossbar with a shot from two yards out.[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="0a403729-a77a-4693-85b2-c3dd42408faf" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="3da41588-e630-4319-a82d-155c51597b89" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]The American was left wondering why his luck had deserted him early in the second half, when Thuram latched onto a free-kick floated into the box and chose to square instead of going for goal himself, but McKennie couldn’t stretch far enough to divert it goalwards. [/p][p]A poor clearance from Bijlow immediately gave The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/juventus/C06aJvIB/"]Old Lady[/a] another chance, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/david-jonathan/CSvtXj2E/"]Jonathan David[/a] took aim from the edge of the box, only for his strike to clatter the upright.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/baldanzi-tommaso/QySTk0pB/"]Tommaso Baldanzi[/a] then produced Genoa’s first shot on target, which was easily dealt with by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/di-gregorio-michele/dUJmgXia/"]Michele Di Gregorio[/a] – who replaced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/perin-mattia/A3ZJNQg1/"]Mattia Perin[/a] at half-time – but McKennie redeemed himself on the visitors’ next attack, making a key block to deny Aaron Caricol.[/p][p]However, it would be Bremer’s turn to lose his hero status in the final 20 minutes, as his foul on Caricol saw Genoa given a penalty by VAR, after the referee had initially awarded a free-kick.[/p][p][b]The fouled player took responsibility, but Di Gregorio guessed correctly to not only save the penalty, but also deny Caricol’s volley when the rebound was crossed back in. [/b][/p][p]The Bianconeri goalkeeper then confirmed his clean sheet by denying [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/masini-patrizio/fwaRyAka/"]Patrizio Masini[/a]’s late header, before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/milik-arkadiusz/EskCwiLE/"]Arkadiusz Milik[/a] shot narrowly over from just inside the Genoa half.[/p][p]Juve are now five matches unbeaten in Serie A and in head-to-head meetings with Il Grifone, who missed a rare chance to register consecutive away victories.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/di-gregorio-michele/dUJmgXia/"]Michele Di Gregorio[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/juventus/C06aJvIB/"]Juventus[/a])[/b][/p][image alt="Player ratings" id="c02ec71a-2834-4b0f-9233-bcc6771e9530" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="80aa2365-0ee2-49e8-9bf0-fc4b2c9dd2d1" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/genoa-d0PJxeie/juventus-C06aJvIB/?mid=OW0cuzIt"]Check out the match summary here.[/a][/b][/p]