Trezeguet, Iaquinta Help Juvetus Thrash Livorno

Juventus 5-1 Livorno

With just a David Trezeguet goal to show for the first half, the game exploded into life towards the end of the second. Iaquinta notched a brace on his debut and Trezeguet completed his hat-trick to help Juventus pick up a stunning 5-1 win over Livorno.


Back from a year stuck in the doldurms of Serie B, Juventus marked their highly-anticipated return to the Italian top flight by hammering five goals past Livorno.

In truth, the hapless visitors from Tuscany made life easy for them with a damning combination of toothless attacking and some truly amateurish defending, but that should not take away from the Old Lady's positive performance.

A David Trezeguet hat-trick and a brace by second-half substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta were more than enough to send Livorno home in disgrace, though at least they managed to avoid being blanked thanks to a Massimo Loviso goal with the last kick of the game.

Salihamidzic, Andrade, Criscito, Nocerino and Almiron were all handed starting debuts in front of a passionate crowd in the Stadio Olimpico of Turin, but the presence of Trezeguet and Del Piero as the front-tandem with Nedved tucking in from the left provided for a reassuring air of familiarity.

Livorno started their Serie A campaign for the first time since 2004 without the iconic Cristiano Lucarelli, and on this evidence the arrival of Francesco Tavano from Roma – who started alongside Fausto Rossini up-front – will do little to erase the memories of his acrimonious departure.

First Half

The opening 20 minutes were scrappy but played at a good tempo. The best chance of the opening period was in fact a half-chance on 8 minutes. A sliced clearance by the clearly ring rusty Tavano almost fell to Trezeguet with the goal at his mercy, but for a last-ditch tackle by the lively Antonio Filippini.

Despite their initial difficulties to penetrate the final-third, it was clear that Juventus were set on making an early impression. They were let down by too many hopeful balls out of the back, however, with a rather shaky Andrade standing out as the biggest culprit.

The first clear chance of the game finally arrived on 25 minutes, and it was no surprise that it fell to the hosts. A beautiful first-time slide through ball by Nedved found Trezeguet in a dangerous position, but the French marksman was for once let down by his finishing as his central shot was kicked away by the trailing foot of Amelia.

Amelia had to be alert again just minutes later, when Chiellini let fly a wonderful long-distance effort, but Buffon's backup showed why Manchester City are after him by getting a strong hand to the goal-bound shot.

Juve were clearly beginning to turn the screws, thanks in large part to Del Piero seeing more and more of the ball. The Bianconeri icon was heavily involved in the breakthrough on the half-hour mark, by sending an exquisite cross for Trezeguet to head down into the goal with authority.

Having drawn first blood, it was refreshing to see that there was no let-up on attacks from Juventus, who were clearly relishing being “back in heaven”, as Buffon put it ahead of the game.

Livorno simply had no answer to the relentlessness with which the hosts came at them, and they did not take at all well to being pressurized high up the field.

On 35 minutes Cristiano Zanetti latched onto a sweet lead pass by Almiron and fizzed a shot just over the crossbar, minutes after which Amelia made a sturdy save on a a slightly underhit Del Piero freekick.

Second Half

Juventus visibly took the foot off the pedal to begin the second-45, though Almiron – who reminds very much of his compatriot Veron both in terms of his languid style and chrome-domed appearance – could have done better when presented with a couple of good shooting opportunities at the top of the box in quick succession.

The desperately disappointing Tavano was replaced by another new signing Diego Tristan early into the second-half, but aside from a few nice touches the Spanish striker failed to make much of an impression either.

New Bianconeri boss Claudio Ranieri showed some of his 'Tinkerman' tendencies by giving Iaquinta his debut at the expense of Del Piero, and the captain did not exactly look pleased to be getting the hook with a full third of the game remaining.

It did not take long for the switch to reap dividends, however, as Iaquinta dispatched a penalty past Amelia after have earned it himself under dubious circumstances. With 70 minutes on the clock the burly striker went down as if wrestled to the ground upon feeling sight contact by Grandoni and the referee took the bait plus the hook and the line.

Juve’s controversial second came just minutes after Rossini had squandered a glorious opportunity to steal an equalizer, but he should have done much better with a free header after having been left criminally unmarked by the Bianconeri rearguard.

Iaquinta’s goal triggered the blood lust within the hosts, and the World Cup winner doubled his tally on 85 minutes with an inadvertent deflection after some piss-poor defending by Livorno invited Nedved to take a free shot.

Trezeguet showed that he doesn’t like to be one-upped by dispatching a quality low shot past the increasingly exasperated Amelia, who one should not be surprised to see first in the cue for tickets for the next flight to Manchester.

The Argentine-born Frenchmen completed his hattrick deep into injury time with a backheel finish, but the gloss was taken off of it as once again Livorno’s defense in the buildup was nothing short of calamitous. A slick run into the box by Nedved ended with Amelia and a fellow defender in a bundle, and Trezegol showed a bit of cheek in accepting the gift.

While Juventus sent a clear message to the rest of the league, Loviso’s consolation goal with the last kick of the game will do nothing to prevent Livorno from going into the second round with a big stamp of relegation favourites on their foreheads.