Pescara 0 Juventus 2: Higuain at the double as Dybala suffers injury

Gonzalo Higuain scored twice as Juventus followed
their victory over Barcelona with a 2-0 win at
Pescara in Serie A, although Paulo Dybala suffered
a worrying injury ahead of the Champions League
quarter-final second leg.
While Massimiliano Allegri rested six from his
team's midweek European triumph, Higuain and
Dybala - the latter of whom netted twice in the
3-0 first-leg win - both kept their places.
Higuain took centre stage as he peppered the
Pescara goal with shots in the opening 45 minutes
and twice beat goalkeeper Vincenzo Fiorillo, but
Dybala's second-half knock gave Allegri cause for
concern just four days before a trip to Camp Nou.
Although the 23-year-old tried to play on after an
apparent blow to his ankle in a 47th-minute
challenge with Sulley Muntari, he again went down
and was replaced by Stefano Sturaro shortly
afterwards to leave Juve worrying over their
forward's fitness.
The champions' title defence was at least boosted
as the bottom-of-the-table side rarely threatened
after a bright start, while second-placed Roma's
draw against Atalanta saw the Bianconeri's gap at
the top stretched to eight points with six games
remaining.
Gaston Brugman's snapshot brought a save from
Neto after just eight seconds and the energetic
hosts stretched an unfamiliar Juve backline in the
early stages.
But Allegri's men soon found their feet and Higuain
squared for Mario Mandzukic to test Fiorillo from
close range, before the Argentina international fired
off target.
The breakthrough arrived for Juve in the 22nd
minute, with Juan Cuadrado swiftly pouncing on
the rebound from his own low shot to tee up
Higuain for a simple finish into an open goal.
200 - Gonzalo #Higuain has scored his
200th goal in the top-5 European leagues
(107 Real Madrid, 71 Napoli, 22
Juventus). King.
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) 15 April 2017
Higuain then squandered an opportunity to double
his tally as he nodded Stephan Lichtsteiner's cross
wide and Mandzukic was similarly wasteful as he
escaped the Pescara defence to drag a volley past
the left-hand post.
As Juve continued to build momentum, Fiorillo
saved well after Higuain created space for a shot
with an inventive piece of skill on the right, before
the brilliant Cuadrado picked out Mandzukic, who
headed over.
Two minutes before half-time, Higuain prodded in a
second as he stretched onto Mandzukic's
knockdown ahead of Fiorillo.
The goalkeeper was able to keep Dybala at bay
with a smart stop moments later and there was
concern for the Juve forward at the start of the
second half as he went down under a heavy
challenge from Muntari and was later withdrawn.
54' Juve SUB:
OFF: @PauDybala_JR
ON: @sturaro_stefano #PescaraJuve
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) April 15,
2017
Substitute Sturaro ran through to prod a tame finish
at Fiorillo, but Juve cruised through the remaining
minutes with Pescara offering little in response.
Allegri and his side can now turn their attentions
back to European action and Barca, with close
attention sure to be paid to Dybala's fitness