Juventus beat Chievo 3-0 to top Serie A table

Defending champions Juventus eased past Chievo Verona 3-0 to stay perfect into the third round of the 2017-2018 Serie A football season.

Juventus on Saturday took a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute on an own goal by Chievo's Perparim Hetemaj off a free-kick from Miralem Pjanic, reports Efe.

Juventus shifted from their 4-2-3-1 formation to a 4-3-3 with Miralem Pjanic driving the midfield along with Stefano Sturaro and Blaise Matuidi, who got his first start.

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny made his Juventus debut, while winger Douglas Costa also got his first start.

Szczesny, who was standing in for rested Gianluigi Buffon, got down well to his left to save Ivan Radovanovic drive from the top of the box. Later, Medhi Benatia cleared the danger with an acrobatic header.

Juventus took control of the game when Argentine centre forward Gonzalo Higuain scored the second goal in the 58th minute after being put through by Pjanic in the opponent box.

Argentine playmaker Paulo Dybala, who came on as a substitute in the second half, added a third with seven minutes left in regulation. Some fine work from second-half substitute Federico Bernardeschi played through Dybala and the latter skipped past a defender and slotted comfortably with his left foot past Stefano Sorrentino in the Chievo goal to make it 3-0.

"It wasn't easy today because we were playing with three in midfield for the first time and Pjanic in front of the defence," Juventus chief coach Massimilano Allegri was quoted as saying by his club's website.

"We let Chievo have a few too many shots: 11. That''s something I'll have to look at closely but it's an area where we can improve," he added.

"We brought on some fresh legs and technical players. Chievo began to wane and we found more space."

With nine points, Juventus lead the Serie A table. Chievo are provisionally in 11th place with three points.

The home victory is likely to give Juventus confidence as they head into next Tuesday's Champions League group stage opener against Barcelona.

--IANS

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