Juventus 4-2 Sampdoria: Controversial Rabiot goal helps spare Bianconeri blushes
Luck was on Juventus' side as they squeezed past relegation-threatened Sampdoria, who had recovered from 2-0 down at the Allianz Stadium.
Adrien Rabiot's controversial strike helped to spare Juventus' blushes as they beat bottom side Sampdoria 4-2 in Serie A.
The France international put his team 3-2 ahead in a tight contest at the Allianz Stadium with his second goal, despite appearing to control the ball with his arm before volleying in.
Gleison Bremer and Rabiot both scored headers to put Massimiliano Allegri’s side into a 2-0 lead, but Sampdoria responded by striking twice in as many minutes through Tommaso Augello and Filip Djuricic before half-time.
Rabiot restored the hosts' advantage after the break though and despite Dusan Vlahovic's missed penalty, Juve held out for an eighth-straight home win over the Blucerchiati as substitute Matias Soule added a late fourth.
Despite a nervy start, Juventus broke the deadlock after 11 minutes as Bremer towered above the defence to head home Filip Kostic's corner.
Another header doubled the hosts' lead in the 26th minute when Rabiot buried Fabio Miretti's inviting cross.
But Sampdoria – this season's lowest scorers in the top five European leagues before Sunday – responded five minutes later with Augello neatly guiding in Mehdi Leris' deflected centre.
And within 72 seconds, they were level as Djuricic arrived late in the box to steer home Alessandro Zanoli's low cross.
Juve controversially regained the lead in the 64th minute, the VAR awarding Rabiot a second goal despite the ball seeming to strike the midfielder's arm before he brilliantly volleyed into the top corner.
Vlahovic missed an opportunity to kill off the contest, his penalty striking the post after Augello felled substitute Juan Cuadrado, but the hosts did seal the points in stoppage time, Soule nodding in his first senior goal after Vlahovic's initial header was tipped onto the crossbar.