Dusan Vlahovic had Juventus fans purring as he showed signs of his best self again on Matchday 21 of the 2022/23 Serie A season. The campaign hasn’t been entirely successful for the forward, but he was on target and looked to be finding form as Juve saw off Salernitana with relative ease.
Currently hit with a 15-point penalty, Juventus‘ 3-0 win in Campania left them equal 10th with Monza and Empoli on 26 points in the Serie A table.
Vlahovic and his compatriot Filip Kostic have dealt with their share of criticism this season, and Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic even felt the need to jump to their defence publicly, but they proved their worth against Salernitana as Juventus try to salvage something from the 2022/23 campaign.
Vlahovic key to Juventus’ hopes
Prior to the 2022 World Cup, Vlahovic had been battling an injury to the abductor muscle, and that also limited his time at the tournament. After returning to Turin, he needed time to recover from a groin injury so he had to wait until Tuesday night to make his first start in Serie A since October.
It is clear that the 23-year-old is a confidence player and his performance against Salernitana has certainly given him a boost mentally. He opened the scoring for Juventus in the first half by converting a penalty and then his wayward shot inadvertently turn into an assist for Kostic before half-time.
Vlahovic added a third for the Bianconeri early in the second half after running onto a delightful pass from Nicolo Fagioli. The Serbian now has eight goals and two assists in 12 Serie A appearances for the campaign and his goals will be more important as Juve ascend the league table.
Salernitana’s slump
Although the loss to Juventus was not as embarrassing as the 8-2 thrashing suffered at the hands of Atalanta, it was another heavy defeat for Salernitana as they try to secure their safety in Serie A.
Granata president Danilo Iervolino sacked Davide Nicola after being humiliated by La Dea, only to reinstate the coach just 48 hours later. The Campanian side did register a 2-1 win against Lecce but Nicola needs to avoid humiliations like the one against Atalanta if he is to retain his job.
Salernitana are 16th in Serie A but they are seven points away from the drop.
