Rabiot at the double to power Juve past Sampdoria

Sampdoria were valiant and produced a remarkable first half comeback after going two goals down but Juventus showed their superiority at home to come away with a crucial win.

Juventus came into this clash as heavy favourites, perhaps expecting an easy evening but Sampdoria should have taken the lead when, Manolo Gabbiadini was presented with two fantastic opportunities within the first 10 minutes. 

First, he pulled a shot wide from a one-on-one situation, before firing straight at Mattia Perin with a teammate in a better position.

The odds were firmly stacked against Sampdoria who are 12 points from safety and their early chances counted for nothing as they fell behind. 

Filip Kostic, who was a danger down the left, whipped in a wicked corner and Gleison Bremer rose highest to thump a header past debutant Martin Turk in the Sampdoria goal. 

Juventus sensed he game was opening up and Adrien Rabiot swiftly made it two for the Bianconeri when he headed Fabio Miretti’s free-kick back across goal and into the far corner.

To their credit, Sampdoria continued to compete and they halved the deficit when Tommaso Augello arrived late in the box to fire into the far corner.

 The home crowd were stunned moments after when Duricic made the most of some great work from Alessandro Zanoli and fired past Perin for an unlikely equaliser.

Juventus responded on the hour-mark as Rabiot coolly struck in a volley from the edge of the box. 

The Bianconeri then had a chance to restore their two-goal advantage after being awarded a penalty but Dusan Vlahovic, without a goal in his last five games, smashed his spot-kick against the post. 

There was still time however,  for 19-year-old Matias Soule to make it 4-2 with a stoppage-time header,