For a while it seemed Lady Luck had abandoned the Old Lady, who played a woeful first half in which she was convincingly muzzled by a determined Cagliari side in Friday's 3-1 win in Parma. Conceding a penalty early on, Juve's forwards were not receiving the right service, imprecision fell out the window and there was a clear look of absence on certain faces of the players.

On the other hand, Cagliari played a well-organised first half. Aggressive in nature, they used their physicality to restrict Juve's movements, closing down spaces and man-marking their key players. Andrea Pirlo could barely escape from Thiago Ribeiro, who was tasked with marking him whenever he drifted into dangerous positions to deliver a pass. Meanwhile, teammate Stefan Lichtsteiner was incessantly followed, pressured and harried by an enthusiastic Nicola Murru who worked exceedingly hard to limit the wingback’s impact.

Juventus’ midfield was made to suffer, and with Arturo Vidal barely making an effort, the Old Lady was often forced to rely on the long-ball to bypass the midfield. Against Torino, Juventus only made 47 long passes and 43 in the next game against Palmero. Against Cagliari, they were forced into making 65 in order to set their forwards free. Sebastian Giovinco or Fabio Quagliarella were hardly offered the right type of service to operate.

However, it must be said that while little Seba struggles with his finish, he worked exceptionally hard throughout. There were several instances in the first half where Giovinco would quickly turn around, survey for teammates near him and look where the goal is before receiving the ball to quickly turn and pass. Renowned for his creativity, there were several instances where he meticulously studied his teammates’ movements to quicken his decision-making.

In the second-half there were instances where Gio held on to the ball a little too long when an earlier release would have been appreciated. However, the manner in which he anticipated movements, moved between the lines and dragged defenders away demonstrated his value. This is a player who is eager to continue improving and developing, making it clear why manager Antonio Conte finds it so difficult to play without him.

Another player who proved impressive was Kwadwo Asamoah. In poor form in recent weeks, the Ghanaian worked hard in applying pressure high up the pitch, running back to defend when need be and overcoming defenders to make vital runs forward. His presence was felt especially in attack and helped Juve keep their width when pouring forward in search for a goal.

Unfortunately, referee Antonio Damato somewhat ruined things. While the Bianconeri barely conjured up any interesting chances in the first half, an eager Davide Astori did bring down Fabio Quagliarella and Juve ought to have been offered a penalty.

Juventus immediately looked more themselves after half-time. The cohesive nature to their play was more evident, Vidal improved and the substitutions made by Conte eventually made all the difference.

Again there were penalty claims when it looked as if Asamoah was pushed when attempting to head in a goal but the referee simply wouldn’t listen to the players’ pleas. This made Juventus even more determined.

Astori, Cagliari’s centre-back who struggles to smooth out the rough edges of his great game, once again let his enthusiasm get the better of him. A tackle from behind saw him receive a second yellow and was thus sent off, forcing the Sardinians to play with ten.

An enigma of a player, Astori combines brilliance with ridiculousness that makes him a liability in the heart of defence. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Cagliari’s relentless harrying waned as their energy levels dropped off, affording Juve more time and space to manuver towards the latter half of the game.

Mirko Vucinic was brought on to tighten up offensive movements. A creative genius, the players around him immediately raise their game when the Montenegrin is on the pitch. Meanwhile, in Alessandro Matri, Juventus inserted a striker with a deadly finish as he latched on to passes and made the most of errors to grab a brace against his former team. Matri scored in the 75th minute and two minutes into stoppage time; Vucinic struck three minutes after Matri's second goal.

The three points gave Juventus 94 in one calendar year – the highest achieved by a Serie A team. They broke Fabio Capello’s record set in 2005 when he and his Juventus side had managed 93. There’s simply no stopping Conte’s men, who never give up on a game, fighting hard until the final whistle to seal a win.

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