Torino 1 Juventus 3: Higuain at the double in hard-fought derby win

Gonzalo Higuain netted a derby brace as Juventus extended its lead at the top of Serie A to seven points with a 3-1 come-from-behind win at city rival Torino.

Published : Dec 11, 2016 23:46 IST

Gonzalo Higuain celebrates a derby goal for Juventus.
Gonzalo Higuain celebrates a derby goal for Juventus.
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Gonzalo Higuain celebrates a derby goal for Juventus.

Gonzalo Higuain netted a derby brace as Juventus extended its lead at the top of Serie A to seven points with a 3-1 come-from-behind win at city rival Torino.

With second-placed Roma facing third-placed AC Milan on Monday, Juve took the opportunity to consolidate its position through its record signing's classy finishing and Miralem Pjanic's late effort.

Torino had been unbeaten at home in the league this season and showed its quality in Sunday's display, where it led through Andrea Belotti's header.

Joe Hart had already made one superb save by that stage, but he could not deny Higuain an equaliser as Juve looked to kick on before the break.

After half-time, Torino took control, probing the visiting back-line in the hope of stealing a rare derby win, but Adem Ljajic missed a great opportunity to earn his side the three points.

Instead, Higuain was the hero, slamming home eight minutes from time, before Pjanic added a third, with Torino now having beaten Juve just once in the past 21 top-flight meetings.

Mirko Valdifiori fired an early, dipping strike over the crossbar from 20 yards and Torino quickly established a threat on the counterattack, with Belotti frustrated when he appeared to be tugged back by Daniele Rugani as he ran clear.
 
Mario Mandzukic misdirected a header from in front of goal at the other end, before the Croatia international forced a smart low save from Hart with his close-range stab.
 
After 16 minutes, though, the host moved in front through a fine, flowing move.
 
Davide Zappacosta burst forward on the right and pushed the ball on to Daniele Baselli, whose cross from the byline was brilliantly steered inside the far post by the head of Belotti.
 
Hart was soon back in action as he held from Higuain's drive, but the Juve man found the net with his next sight of goal.
 
Profiting as the ball flicked up off Mandzukic's heel, Higuain instantly took control and ushered a cool finish beyond the advancing Hart from inside the area.

Although clear chances were harder to come by in the second period, those that did arrive initially fell Torino's way.

Marco Benassi's thunderous strike was blocked and Iago Falque volleyed the rebound wide from the edge of the box, while Baselli pounced on a loose pass to kickstart a break, but found his final ball equally slack.

Ljajic ran onto Falque's defence-splitting pass on the left, but he could not curl his shot inside the corner as Gianluigi Buffon stood rooted to the spot, with Torino attempting to hold on for a hard-fought point.

And that proved costly as Higuain struck again.

Holding off the challenge of a recovering defender as he collected Giorgio Chiellini's pass, Higuain spun to crash a shot past Hart.

The England goalkeeper saved brilliantly from Higuain in stoppage time, springing up to block the rebound, too, but Pjanic then swept in to put the result beyond doubt.

 

Key Opta Facts:

- Gonzalo Higuain has now scored six goals in seven league appearances against Torino.

- This is Higuain's 19th brace in Serie A (he has also scored three hat-tricks so far).

- Prior to Andrea Belotti, the last Torino player to score in back-to-back derbies against Juve had been Marco Ferrante (2001 and 2002).

- Over the last three rounds of Serie A, Juventus has conceded four goals in the opening 30 minutes – previously they had shipped only one in 13 games in the first half an hour.

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