The hosts went desperately close to taking the lead on two occasions inside the opening 10 minutes of the contest. Poland international Nicola Zalewski dragged an effort narrowly wide of the target when he really should have hit the back of the net, and just moments later, Giorgio Scalvini’s powerful header from inside the box struck the post.
Despite the lively start, there was a lull in proceedings before the action fired up again shortly before the interval.
Atalanta’s Nikola Krstovic had the best opportunity to break the deadlock in the latter stages of the opening period with a close-range acrobatic effort.
However, La Dea supporters, who were in fine voice all night, knew more quality was needed in the final third for their side to break the deadlock, with only one shot on target from 10 attempts at half-time. On the other hand, Juventus were unusually anonymous going forward and rarely threatened Atalanta’s defence.
Raffaele Palladino’s men were quickly made to pay the price for their earlier squandered opportunities as soon as the second half got underway. Just three minutes after the restart, the Bianconeri edged in front as Jeremie Boga’s miscued strike still managed to loop into the net after Atalanta failed to deal with a delivery into the box.
La Dea worked hard to try and get back on level terms and almost did so shortly before the hour mark when Michele Di Gregorio made an excellent save to deny Berat Djimsiti.
Ultimately, it proved to be a deeply frustrating night for Atalanta as their lack of killer instinct proved to be their undoing.
Although they were nowhere near their best, the Bianconeri held on to claim three vital points. They will attempt to continue their impressive run of form next weekend when they host Bologna, with a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League still firmly on the line.
Atalanta, on the other hand, remain seventh and will look to return to winning ways when they travel to Roma on Matchday 33.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jeremie Boga (Juventus)
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