On Saturday, Juventus struggled mightily to dismantle recently promoted Lecce, but they eventually prevailed 1-0.
It appeared at times that Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus wouldn’t be able to respond emphatically to their Champions League elimination.
With the exception of the away team’s surprisingly high number of fouls, who were piling up the yellow cards and preventing things from flowing with their overzealous challenges, the opening stages were predictably plodding.
Rabiot’s header was palmed away by Falcone in the 44th minute, which was the first time Juve really tested the Lecce goalkeeper.
After the break, we would have to wait for Falcone to make another save because he did a good job parrying Arkadiusz Milik’s shot from the edge of the box.
In a last-ditch effort to find entertainment, Allegri went back to his bench and called on the young Samuel Iling Junior. Juve had already taken the lead when he entered the game.
With 17 minutes remaining, the former Chelsea player found Nicolo Fagioli, 21, who produced the game’s first truly outstanding play when he bent a beautiful effort into the top corner of the Lecce goal. Fagioli celebrated in a flood of tears in what was a sincere display of emotion.
Morten Hjulmand’s late strike against the post for Lecce nearly derailed the event, but in the end Juve held on for a defeat that you have to admit, despite their subpar performance, they deserved.
An otherwise dreary football match was decided by one flash of brilliance, as second-half substitute Fagioli curled in a wonderful winner and finally broke Lecce’s defence. Juventus was undoubtedly the superior team for the majority of the game despite missing a number of players and playing cautiously, with their hosts’ goals appearing to be to secure a fifth consecutive home draw. Apart from Fagioli’s goal, there were several ugly fouls, but Allegri is not particularly concerned with aesthetics. Juve completed its task.
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