Soccer Football - Serie A - Juventus v Hellas Verona - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - March 3, 2025 Juventus' Teun Koopmeiners scores their second goal past Hellas Verona's Lorenzo Montipo REUTERS/Massimo Pinca
TURIN, Italy (Reuters) -Late goals from Khephren Thuram and Teun Koopmeiners earned misfiring Juventus a 2-0 home win against Hellas Verona in Serie A on Monday as Thiago Motta's side extended their winning run to five games.
Juventus held a lion's share of possession and created nearly 30 chances but struggled to break the deadlock with most of them missing the target, while visiting goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo produced a string of saves to deny the rest.
But Thuram found a way past the heroic Verona keeper in the 72nd minute, scoring with first touch from around the penalty spot, and Koopmeiners doubled the lead with a low shot from a tight angle in the 90th.
Juve, who last week were eliminated in Coppa Italia quarter-finals by relegation-threatened Empoli, are fourth in the standings on 52 points, six off leaders Inter Milan and two above Lazio in fifth.
The hosts, who were the only Italian side to win all of their league games in February, cut distance to the top after Inter drew at second-placed Napoli last weekend and Atalanta, in third, were held goalless at home by lowly Venezia.
Verona are 14th, four points above the relegation zone.
The visitors had the first attempts on target through Tomas Suslov and Amin Sarr, who both struck from outside the box inside seven minutes, but Juve keeper Michele Di Gregorio saved their shots.
Verona barely abandoned their own half ever since as they were under constant fire from Juventus.
Thuram should have put the home side in front early on when he was served a precise pass inside the area but his attempt from the penalty spot lacked strength and Montipo had no problem denying him.
Weston McKennie thought he made it 1-0 before the break with a close-range header following a free kick but his goal was ruled out for a foul on the Verona keeper.
Montipo continued to deliver and Manuel Locatelli saw his two brilliant chances thwarted minutes later as frustration grew among the local fans.
However, things could have been worse for Juve as Verona appeared to have taken a shock lead in first-half stoppage time through Suslov, who fired from a distance, but his stunning goal was disallowed for offside.
Kenan Yildiz hit the side netting for the hosts after the restart as more chances missed Verona's goal until Thuram sent the ball inside the right side of the net to finally give them the lead.
Koopmeiners doubled the advantage when he was teed up on the edge of the area and outfoxed Verona's defence to strike past Montipo inside the near post.
Juventus won each of their first four home league games in a single calendar year for the first time since 2021.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
