TURIN: Late goals from Khephren Thuram and Teun Koopmeiners earned misfiring Juventus a 2-0 home win against Hellas Verona in Serie A on Monday as Thiago Motta`s side extended their winning run to five games.

Juventus held a lion`s share of possession and created nearly 30 chances but struggled to break the deadlock with most of them missing the target, while visiting goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo produced a string of saves to deny the rest.

But Thuram found a way past the heroic Verona keeper in the 72nd minute, scoring with first touch from around the penalty spot, and Koopmeiners doubled the lead with a low shot from a tight angle in the 90th.

Juve, who last week were eliminated in Coppa Italia quarter-finals by relegation-threatened Empoli, are fourth in the standings on 52 points, six off leaders Inter Milan and two above Lazio in fifth.

`We played well and we deserved to win... it was an important three points, said under-fire Juve coach Thiago Motta.

`I`m pleased with the players I have, with the effort and commitment they show... We know that the attitude was wrong last time (against Empoli).

The hosts, who were the only Italian side to win all of their league games in February, cut distance to the top after Inter drew at second-placed Napoli last weekend and Atalanta, in third, were held goalless at home by lowly Venezia.

Verona are 14th, four points above the relegation zone.

Juve would have been behindtoarocketofashot from Toma Suslov at the break had Davide Faraoni not strayed offside in the build-up.

That ruling set the stage for Juve to win a match which they dominated from the first whistle and could have won more comprehensively had it not been for Verona goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo.

Koopmeiners, who has underperformed since arriving from Atalanta as a potential star of a reworked team, netted just his third goal of the season give the match a more respectable scoreline.

`Koopmeiners did well and I`m very happy for him, he`s a special guy, Motta added.

`He has a great mentality, it`s a privilege for us to have him. He has to be convinced, confident and accept criticism. He`s doing well and he`ll give us a lot.

The 27-year-old Dutch international, who joined Juve for a reported fee of around 55 million euros ($57.68 million) in August, scored his second Serie A goal for the Turin side.

Juventus won each of their first four home league games in a single calendar year for the first time since 2021.-Agencies