Juventus made a flying start as they secured just their third win in eight Serie A matches, scoring twice early on in a 2-0 home victory over Genoa CFC. The result leaves Genoa only six points above the relegation zone after suffering back-to-back defeats.

If head coach Luciano Spalletti had urged his players to “use their heads” before kickoff, they certainly followed that advice to great effect.

The breakthrough came in under four minutes when a half-cleared ball was headed back into the danger area by Khéphren Thuram, with help from Lloyd Kelly, before Gleison Bremer headed home, albeit via a significant deflection that wrong-footed Justin Bijlow.

Thuram himself came close moments later with a long-range effort, but Juventus’ strong opening was rewarded again in the 17th minute. On the counter-attack, Weston McKennie combined with Francisco Conceição, who created space before laying the ball back for McKennie to finish with a low first-time strike.

Genoa briefly found some rhythm midway through the half, but their lack of cutting edge was evident. Juventus responded with a curling attempt from Kenan Yıldız, which was comfortably dealt with.

The hosts had a chance to put the game beyond doubt just before the interval when Yıldız delivered a cross that Conceição knocked back across goal, but McKennie somehow blazed over from close range, missing an open opportunity from just a couple of yards out.

The American midfielder was left to reflect on his misfortune early in the second half when Khéphren Thuram latched onto a free-kick delivered into the box and opted to square the ball rather than shoot, but Weston McKennie was unable to stretch far enough to turn it toward goal.

A poor clearance from Justin Bijlow soon presented another opportunity for Juventus, as Jonathan David struck from the edge of the area, only to see his effort crash against the post.

Tommaso Baldanzi then registered Genoa CFC’s first shot on target, comfortably saved by Michele Di Gregorio, who had come on at half-time in place of Mattia Perin. McKennie, however, quickly made amends by producing a crucial block to deny Aaron Caricol on the visitors’ next attack.

Juventus’ lead was nearly jeopardised in the final 20 minutes when Gleison Bremer was penalised for a foul on Caricol. After VAR intervention, the initial free-kick decision was upgraded to a penalty.

Caricol stepped up to take the spot-kick, but Di Gregorio made the correct guess to save the effort and also denied Caricol on the rebound when his volley followed the saved attempt.

The Juventus goalkeeper further secured the clean sheet with a late save to keep out a header from Patrizio Masini, while Arkadiusz Milik went close at the other end, firing narrowly over from distance.

Juventus extended their unbeaten run in Serie A to five matches, while also maintaining their positive head-to-head record against Genoa, who missed the opportunity to secure back-to-back away wins.