In Allianz Arena, Juventus made sure to defeat Lecce in a tough match. Paredes and Vlahovic scored for Juventus while Ceesay scored on penalty for Lecce.
Six players from Juventus’ previous match against Bologna have been replaced. Cuadrado, Sandro, Gatti, Chiesa, Locatelli, and Milik were all benched in favor of Bonucci, Bremer, De Sciglio, Paredes, Vlahovic, and Di Maria.
Six players from Lecce’s previous game against Udinese were replaced. Gendrey and Antonino Gallo were replaced in the back four by Romagnoli and Pezzella. Gonzalez took over for Blin in the center of the field. Strefezza was suspended, so Colombo and Di Francesco were benched, and Maleh, Banda, and Cessay were given the starting nod in the final third.
Ceesay was able to put the ball in the back of the net after it was kicked by Oudin across the face of the goal, but the goal was disallowed because the Lecce forward was operating offside.
Fagioli tried to pick out Di Maria’s run into the Lecce box, but the Argentine slipped under pressure and the visitors were able to clear the danger. After controlling Bonucci’s lofted pass, Kostic unleashed a left-footed shot on goal that momentarily unsettled Falcone but ultimately missed the target by a wide margin.
In the final third of the game, Maleh brought Fagioli to the ground by dragging him, which resulted in the home team being awarded a free kick in an advantageous position. The shot was taken by Paredes from a distance of 25 yards towards the goal, and it flew past Falcone and into the bottom-left corner of the net. The midfielder exploited a hole he found in the defensive line of Lecce and scored against the outsiders to give his team an early lead.
Oudin took a long-range shot with the intention of scoring, and the ball soared in the direction of the goal, but Szczesny was able to watch it sail comfortably over the crossbar. Miretti pounced on a cutback provided by De Sciglio on the right flank and had only Falcone to beat, but he botched his shot and it was deflected wide of the left post.
Miretti pounced on Di Maria’s deflected pass and fired low and hard, but Falcone made the save once again. The offside flag, however, was raised too late. After racing down the right flank, Oudin swung in a dangerous cross that Ceesay just missed getting on the end of.
Despite Fagioli’s fantastic ball over the top, Miretti was caught offside and thus unable to get his name on the scoresheet. He made a great play by finishing his volley by smashing it into the dirt and over Falcone, but it was for naught.
After a strong run by the Argentine on the counterattack, the visiting team’s Baschirotto raced back to clear a threatening cross from Di Maria that was headed in the direction of Vlahovic. A cross from Baschirotto was delivered to the back post, where Banda was looking for Ceesay. However, Bremer was able to clear Banda’s header off the line.
After having lost an aerial duel with Oudin, Danilo intentionally handled the ball inside the penalty area, and the referee immediately signaled for a penalty kick to be taken. As a result of Ceessay’s composed shot from 12 yards out, Leece were able to get back in the game. He took a lengthy run-up before unleashing a left-footed strike that was hard and low toward Szczesny and into the bottom-right corner of the goal.
In the final third, Kostic and Di Maria combined their efforts, but Umtiti made an outstanding challenge to prevent Di Maria from scoring. On the second chance, Miretti lined up his shot, but his attempt was deflected and missed the target by a wide margin.
Vlahovic finally broke his scoreless streak in front of the net for Juventus, giving the team back the lead. Kostic sent the ball into the penalty area at a low angle, and Vlahovic, who was positioned in the inside-right channel, was able to get a touch on it. He struck the ball for the first time with his left foot and buried it into the bottom-left corner of the goal.
After rising to his feet inside the penalty area, Danilo attempted to direct a corner kick that had been taken by Paredes toward the back of the net, but his attempt went just outside the post. Ceesay was presented with an additional opportunity at the back post when he connected with Oudin’s corner, but he shot high over the crossbar with his attempt.
After latching onto Bremer’s header from six yards out, Miretti had to do nothing more than steer his left-footed strike on goal, but he missed the mark. Kostic charged down the left side and attempted an early cross into the penalty area, but his ball went out of bounds for a goal kick. Szczesny was required to make a strong save after Baschirotto surged forward again and packed up a drive from a range that traveled towards the goal at speed. Lecce regained possession, and Pezzella took a shot from the corner of the box, but it was blocked.
Danilo came within millimeters of scoring Juventus’ third goal, but the team was ultimately unsuccessful. He was able to beat his defender and get to Paredes’ cross first, but his shot went wide right, and the Lecce defense was able to recover the loose ball and clear the danger. Banda made a dash for it down the left flank, breezing easily past two opponents along the way. He then hammered a low ball out across face of the goal, but there was no one from Lecce there just to tap in the cross.
As Ceesay was attempting to latch on to Oudin’s through ball, Bonucci made a crucial challenge to Ceesay. If the Juventus defender hadn’t timed his challenge so perfectly, the only thing the Lecce striker would have needed to do was beat Szczesny. It was necessary for Bremer to bring Banda down on the charge, so he went into the book. Banda had Juventus pinned back against the wall with his constant pressure.
Ceccaroni flicked on a dangerous cross from Oudin. In retaliation, Ceesay was gifted a wide-open header, but he hit it straight at Szczesny, who made a diving save. Paredes set up for his second free kick of the game and attempted to score, but his shot went high.
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