Struggling Juventus cruise past Empoli

MILAN: Juventus comfortably beat Empoli 4-0 in Friday’s Serie A match ahead of their Champions League clash at Benfica which could seal their elimination from Europe’s top club competition.

Goals in each half from Moise Kean and Weston McKennie and a late Adrien Rabiot brace gave struggling Juve their second straight win in Italy’s top flight, the first time this league season that they have managed to win two matches in a row.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side moved up to seventh, seven points behind Serie A leaders Napoli and three away from Roma who sit in fourth and host the pacesetters at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday night.

Kean’s eighth minute opener, tapped in from Filip Kostic’s cross, was his first league goal of the season and rewarded Allegri’s decision to start the Italy international ahead of in-form forward Arkadiusz Milik.

The 22-year-old thought he had another shortly after McKennie headed in Juve’s second in the 56th minute, a header of his own from another Kostic ruled out for offside.

It was France international Rabiot who rounded off the scoring, first forcing another header just across the line from Juan Cuadrado’s corner with eight minutes remaining before tapping home the fourth in stoppage time.

Empoli sit 11th on 11 points after their fourth defeat of the season in which the closest they came to scoring was when Mattia Destro wasted a great chance to equalize one-on-one with Wojciech Szczesny in the 33rd minute.

Friday’s match served as a warm up to Juve’s trip Lisbon to take on Benfica with elimination from the Champions League staring them in the face.

Juve are five points behind both their hosts on Tuesday and Group H leaders Paris Saint-Germain and have to win their final two matches to