On their Juventus debuts, Dusan Vlahovic and Denis Zakaria both scored as the Bianconeri defeated Verona 2-0 on Sunday.
The former arrived from Fiorentina in a big-money January deal, while the latter came in on the cheap from Borussia Monchengladbach with six months left on his contract.
Free-scoring Vlahovic scored first, lobbing into the far corner in the first half, before Zakaria sealed the victory with a low effort.
The win moves Juventus ahead of Atalanta and into fourth place in Serie A, despite the fact that the latter has a game in hand.
Vlahovic opened his Juventus account – and the scoring – with a delightful chip over Lorenzo Montipo after racing onto a Paulo Dybala throughball in the 13th minute.
The new arrival was a constant menace, taking three shots in the first half – more than any other player – but was unable to add to his tally of 18 Serie A goals before the break.
Zakaria joined the Serbian in netting on his first Bianconeri appearance, getting onto Alvaro Morata’s pass in behind and rifling a low shot into the bottom-left corner.
The Bianconeri enjoyed less of the ball than their opponents despite being at home, but Verona rarely threatened the Juventus goal and never looked like mounting a comeback.
What does it mean? Bianconeri unbeaten in 10 league games
Juventus extended their Serie A unbeaten run to 10 games, winning seven and drawing three of those.
The Bianconeri endured a poor start to the season, but have since put together a strong run of form and are now fourth, although Atalanta have a game in hand and are just two points behind.
Vlahovic can’t stop scoring
Vlahovic has now scored 18 league goals this term, only fewer than Robert Lewandowski (24) in Europe’s top five leagues in 2021-22.
Double delight for debutants
Vlahovic and Zakaria are the second pair of players to have both scored a goal in their debut match for Juventus in Serie A in the three points for a win era (since 1994-95), after Arturo Vidal and Stephan Lichtsteiner against Parma in September 2011.
What’s next?
Juventus host Sassuolo on Thursday in the Coppa Italia quarter-final, while Verona face Udinese at home next Sunday in Serie A.
