Soccer Football - Serie A - Juventus v Empoli - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - October 21, 2022 Juventus' Moise Kean in action with Empoli's Koni De Winter REUTERS/Massimo Pinca
TURIN, Italy (Reuters) -Two goals by midfielder Adrien Rabiot helped Juventus crush Empoli 4-0 at the Allianz Stadium on Friday, as Massimiliano Allegri's team won two consecutive Serie A games for the first time this season.
Juventus, who grabbed a 1-0 derby victory at Torino last time out, moved up one place to seventh on 19 points, one above Inter who travel to Fiorentina on Saturday.
"We are now looking more like a team," Allegri told DAZN.
"We had started (the season) well, then we had a bad week, which cost us the delay in the championship. Tonight we had to confirm ourselves and we did well.
"We are improving, already the fact that the team kept a great pace in the second half is a good sign for (our) physical condition."
Forward Moise Kean put the hosts ahead in the eighth minute when he tapped in a beautiful cross from Filip Kostic.
The 22-year-old found the net in Serie A for the first time since April with his first goal at the Allianz Stadium this year.
Kean could have scored one more just after the half-hour mark but his header went narrowly wide.
Empoli had a chance to draw the scores level through striker Mattia Destro but Juve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny did well to block his effort.
Weston McKennie doubled Juve's lead shortly after the break when Juan Cuadrado sent in a great pass and the U.S. international headed the ball into the roof of the net.
Kean thought he increased their advantage but his effort was ruled out for offside and Juve failed to score again until Rabiot took advantage of another precise cross from Cuadrado to make it 3-0 with a header in the 82nd minute.
The Frenchman completed the rout in stoppage time to notch up his second brace this season for Juventus in all competitions.
"The problem is that we played our game (only) until the 60th minute," Empoli coach Paolo Zanetti said.
"Then, after we got the two goals on corners, we disappeared from the pitch -- and that must not happen because then you risk getting seven goals.
"The problem today was mental, it's clear that we met a strong team and the result must make us grow."
Juventus travel to Lecce in Serie A on Saturday after visiting Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Empoli, 11th in the standings, host second-placed Atalanta on Oct. 30.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk, editing by Ed Osmond)
