Khephren Thuram eventually managed to break down Hellas Verona and give Juventus their fifth straight Serie A victory, putting Coppa Italia disappointment behind them.
The Bianconeri were subjected to angry fan protests after elimination from the Champions League to PSV Eindhoven, then the Coppa Italia on penalties to Empoli midweek. Francisco Conceicao joined Douglas Luiz, Renato Veiga, Nicolò Savona, Gleison Bremer, Juan Cabal and Arek Milik on the treatment table, but Pierre Kalulu returned to the squad after a month out. Hellas missed Daniel Mosquera, Martin Frese, Suat Serdar and Abdou Harroui, but Domagoj Bradaric was back from suspension following the 1-0 win over Fiorentina. Coach Paolo Zanetti sat out a touchline ban.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
Nico Gonzalez should’ve opened the scoring after 90 seconds, but ballooned over after a Kolo Muani knock-down.
However, there was a shock when Empoli took the lead as Nico Gonzalez gave the ball away and Youssef Maleh hit a scorcher into the far bottom corner with his weaker right foot from outside the area.
Juve struggled to create any chances, as instead Maleh went through the middle on Liam Henderson’s pass and laid it off for Ibrahim Konate, the 18-year-old’s angled drive too weak to trouble Mattia Perin.
Empoli really should’ve gone 2-0 up with the last kick of the half, as Konate sprung the offside trap on a long ball over the top and beat Perin, but the finish bounced off the inside of the upright and back out.
The second half started in a similar vein, as within 20 seconds Maleh’s powerful strike with his preferred left boot from distance was palmed round the upright by Perin.
Dusan Vlahovic’s free kick had bent over the wall and was dipping into the far top corner until pushed away by the Devis Vasquez save.
With a shortage of defenders, Thiago Motta introduced Manuel Locatelli as a centre-back, but Andrea Cambiaso stumbled to send Junior Sambia clear and Perin had to palm that finish over the bar.
Juventus were woken up by a sensational bit of skill from Khephren Thuram, who twisted Liam Henderson inside out at the by-line with a back-heel flick to send the ball behind the player while he ran in front, then beat Vasquez from the tightest of angles.
Vlahovic’s header was straight at Vasquez, along with the Sebastiano Esposito strike at the other end, while Kenan Yildiz drilled wide.
Alberto Costa made his Juventus debut for the final seven minutes, but there were chances at both ends, Christian Kouame and then Vlahovic getting the finish all wrong after good build-up.
Vasquez rushed off his line to smother at Vlahovic’s feet following a heavy touch and Kenan Yildiz fired over on the bounce in stoppages from a corner.
The teams could not be divided, so went straight to a penalty shoot-out, which is how Empoli already eliminated Fiorentina in the Round of 16.
Vlahovic stepped up first and ballooned it over the crossbar, followed by successful conversions until Vasquez got down to palm the Kenan Yildiz effort round the near bottom corner.
Vlahovic (J, miss), Henderson (E, goal), Kolo Muani (J, goal), Kouame (E, goal), Locatelli (J, goal), Cacace (E, goal), Kenan Yildiz (J, saved), Marianucci (E, goal)
