Higuain ends wait to boost Allegri

Juventus doesn't care who scores, as long as it wins, coach Massimiliano Allegri said after Gonzalo Higuain ended his five-week drought on Wednesday.

Higuain opened the scoring for Juve on its way to a 2-0 Champions League triumph over Dinamo Zagreb.

A beaten finalist in 2015, Juventus heads into the draw for the last 16 seeded as Group H winner after finishing three points ahead of Sevilla.

A slice of luck could be required if it is to avoid meeting the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or any other favorite in February.

And Allegri will be hoping Higuain, who had not scored in more than a month, has finally found the touch that helped him to a Serie A-record 36 goals for Napoli last season.

Until then, the Juventus coach called for less scrutiny on the under-pressure Argentine.

"We needed to score goals tonight ... sometimes it happens that a striker doesn't score for a few games," said Allegri.

"Maybe he was just too used to scoring goals before, but at Juventus it's important we win, not who scores."

It was probably the best news Higuain has heard in a while.

After his record transfer to Juve last summer in a bid to "win titles and trophies", Higuain has endured a testing five months in Turin.

He scored seven times in Serie A before a thigh injury last month curtailed his bid to claim the league's top-scorer award for the second straight season.

Higuain's form for Argentina also prompted fans to boo him at a recent World Cup qualifier.

On his return to Italy the striker denied reports he received an armed escort after receiving death threats.

Despite making his full league return in a 3-1 victory over Atalanta last weekend, Higuain once again failed to get his name on the scoresheet.

His 52nd-minute opener on Wednesday was his first goal since hitting a penalty in a 1-1 Champions League draw with Lyon on Nov 2.

Although happy at ending his famine, Higuain admitted being played in a slightly different position at Juventus has not helped.

"All strikers want to score goals. You can't always score when you want, so I'm happy I did," Higuain told Mediaset Premium.

Agence France-Presse