By the skin of their teeth, Juventus returned to winning ways this evening, defeating Lecce 1-0 at the Stadio Via del Mare in southern Italy.
A late goal from 21 year-old midfielder Nicolò Fagioli rescued the Turin giants after another underwhelming performance.
The youngster scored a sensational curler in the 73rd minute to capture all three points despite a valiant effort from hosts Lecce, who nearly grabbed a last-minute equaliser.
The match came to life in the final stages after both teams struggled to create any goalscoring opportunities throughout the first sixty minutes.
Arek Milik came close to a goal in the 61st minute, forcing Lecce shot-stopper Wladimiro Falcone to make a diving save.
Moments later, Juan Cuadrado delivered a perfect cross at the feet of Moise Kean but the 22 year-old couldn’t get his shot on target, missing wide of the net.
With time ticking down, Juventus finally found a breakthrough through Fagioli, who was introduced at half time in place of Weston McKennie.
The Italian controlled the ball a few years outside of Lecce’s penalty area and fired perfectly placed curling shot into the top right corner of Walcone’s goal.
It appeared that Juventus would comfortably see out the result before Lecce’s Morten Hjulmand nearly earned the hosts a draw.
The Danish midfielder had the ball fall at his feet in the 89th minute and had a golden opportunity to score.
His shot looked destined to end up in the back of the net but a slight deflection altered the ball’s trajectory and hit the post—Juve able to breath a sigh of relief.
Although not pretty, it’s still an important result for Max Allegri’s men after failing to reach the Champions League knockouts.
