Federico Bernardeschi stars as Juventus beat Cagliari in Serie A

Juventus survived a couple of big scares to overcome struggling Cagliari 2-0 in Serie A in Turin on Tuesday night as their resurgent form continued.

Federico Bernardeschi was the unlikely hero for the Bianconeri, assisting Moise Kean in the first half before firing home himself late on.

Kean should have opened the scoring ten minutes in when he rose unopposed to meet Juan Cuadrado's cross, but he could only thump his free header off the base of the post.

The Italy international redeemed himself five minutes before half-time, drifting in between two defenders to cleverly divert Bernardeschi's deflected shot into the bottom corner with his head.

Cagliari spurned two glorious chances to equalise within eight second-half minutes. Just after the hour mark, Dalbert was somehow unable to finish Raoul Bellanova's low cross in acres of space inside the six-yard box, sending the ball squirming wide.

Then, Joao Pedro saw his goal-bound header tipped over the bar by Wojciech Szczesny - either side of the goalkeeper and it would have been in.

Juventus punished their visitors on the break with seven minutes remaining. Substitute Dejan Kulusevski charged forward with the ball down the right flank before angling a pass into Bernardeschi on the left.

He looked as though he had drifted too far wide, but the attacker was able to readjust and ping a shot across the keeper and into the opposite corner. Alessio Cragno got a hand to it, but the strike was too powerful.

The result leaves Juve fifth in Serie A ahead of the winter break, four points off the top four, while the Isolani remain in the bottom three.