Soccer Football - Serie A - Salernitana v Juventus - Stadio Arechi, Salerno, Italy - February 7, 2023 Juventus' Danilo in action with Salernitana's Domen Crnigoj REUTERS/Ciro De Luca
(Reuters) -Juventus outclassed Salernitana 3-0 on Tuesday in Serie A, with two goals and one assist from striker Dusan Vlahovic helping the visitors move up to 10th place in the standings.
The game marked a return to form for Serbian Vlahovic, who has struggled with injuries this season, but made his first league start since October.
"You can see physically, he just moves better, looks sharper, he also played well on a technical level today," Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri told DAZN.
Juventus got a penalty after 26 minutes when Hans Nicolussi fouled Manuel Locatelli inside the box with Vlahovic converting the penalty.
Vlahovic almost netted a second in the 37th minute, but his shot from an acute angle at the edge of the box went just wide of the post.
Filip Kostic doubled the lead on the stroke of halftime when he tapped the ball in from close range after Vlahovic's initial shot bounced into his path, providing an unintended assist.
Juventus could have scored a third in the last seconds before the break when Locatelli made a run unmarked into the box, but Salernitana keeper Guillermo Ochoa reacted early and parried his attempted lob.
Vlahovic got his second goal 80 seconds into the second half when he ran through in the box and smashed the ball low into the right corner.
Salernitana almost pulled one back in the 51st minute, with Junior Sambia sending a cross that went through almost everyone in the box, but forward Boulaye Dia was unable to stretch himself in time to guide the ball into the open net.
"The team gave a strong response, we had a good 60 minutes, but got a bit complacent after going 3-0 up and allowed too many shots on goal. We were static in our positions, didn't move around enough and the players know we must absolutely do better," Allegri said.
"The first 10 minutes we tended to pass it too much down the right, so we need to improve our passing, be smoother and keep it simple."
Juve could have added to their tally but were denied by the woodwork with Angel Di Maria hitting the crossbar after 53 minutes and Moise Kean striking the post late on.
The result moved Juventus on to 26 points from 21 matches, while Salernitana are 16th with 21 points.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in GdanskEditing by Christian Radnedge)
