Mandzukic nets brace as Juventus thrash 10-man Napoli to remain top of Serie A

- Mario Mandzukic netted a brace before Leonardo Bonucci’s 74th minute goal helped Juventus beat Napoli 3-1

- Cristiano Ronaldo fired blanks but assisted Mandzukic's first goal

- Juventus are yet to lose a game in the new season in Serie A

Mario Mandzukic netted a brace before Leonardo Bonucci’s 74th minute goal ensured Juventus beat Napoli 3-1 to remain at the top of Serie A log after Saturday, September 29, 2018, cracker at Turin.

The encounter saw Juventus miss out top stars that include Sami Khedira, Mattia De Sciglio, Leonardo Spinazzola and suspended Douglas Costa.

Therefore, the Old Lady opted for Emre Can stepped in alongside Paulo Dybala for Federico Bernardeschi.

Mario Mandzukic’s nets brace as Juventus beat Napoli to remain top of Serie A
Source: Getty Images

Napoli almost claimed the opening goal of the match after six minutes, but Zielinski’s left-footed shot from distance could only hit the far post with Juve goalie Wojciech Szczesny well beaten.

On the other end, Cristiano Ronaldo’s effort stung David Ospina’s gloves from 20 metres out, but it was not good enough to hand Juventus the lead.

However, Napoli took the deserved lead with a well-worked team goal by Belgium star, Dries Mertens on the 10th minute.

Allan intercepted a Leonardo Bonucci pass, linked up Jose Callejon, who cushioned the volleyed assist beautifully for Mertens to complete the job.

Juventus did not panic as they kept playing their game, until Cristiano Ronaldo turned Elseid Hysaj inside out and put a cross on the head of Mandzukic to level up scores.

Moments later, The Portuguese star was hacked down on the outside the box and from that resultant free kick, David Ospina save from a tight angle, but nobody was insight to finish off the rebound, with Marek Hamsik getting a desperate block on Miralem Pjanic from adding Juve’s second on the night.

Indeed, the home side controlled most exchanges but no other goal was scored until the end of the first stanza.

In the second half, Juventus continued from where they stopped and just four minutes after restart Mandzukic scored the second to put the Serie A champions in the driving seat.

The encounter at the later stages also saw Napoli’s Mario Rui reviewed his second booking on the 60th minute, which resulted to a red and a one-man down, for the away side.

From then on, Juve showed they are at home with their possession game and were able to score the third goal on the 76th minute through Leonardo Bonucci.

At the end of the game, a total of eight yellow cards and one red was splashed out by centre referee Luca Banti as the defending champions put the game beyond Napoli.

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously had reported that Juventus continued their perfect start of the Serie A season with a 2-0 win away to lowly Frosinone.

It was champions 21st away win in the Italian league as they extend their unbeaten run with goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Bemardeschi.

As early as the seventh minute Ronaldo's effort was cleared off the line after a pouncing on a flick from Mario Mandzukic.

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