Italian Serie A
SpeziaSpezia2JuventusJuventus3

Spezia 2-3 Juventus: Matthijs de Ligt scores winner as Juventus come back to earn first Serie A win

Matthijs de Ligt
Juventus had drawn two and lost two of their opening four Serie A matches

Juventus produced a second-half fightback to earn their first Serie A victory of the season against Spezia.

Centre-back Matthijs de Ligt scored the winner from a corner six minutes after Federico Chiesa's equaliser.

Spezia had produced their own comeback from a goal down through Emmanuel Gyasi and Janis Antiste, after Moise Kean's low strike into the bottom corner gave Juventus a 28th-minute lead.

Victory moves Massimiliano Allegri's side up to 12th in the table.

Manager Allegri billed the match as a "relegation six-pointer" after two points from four matches had left Juventus in the bottom three.

Having failed to win any of their first four games for only the fourth time in the club's history, Kean's first Juventus goal since rejoining from Everton in August temporarily relieved some of the pressure on the visitors.

But Gyasi levelled with a looping strike five minutes later and, after a couple of good saves by goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet from Paolo Dybala at the end of the first half, Antiste's deflected shot threatened to extend Juve's miserable start.

Chiesa, rewarded for his persistence as the ball broke kindly for his goal, led the Juventus fightback and De Ligt stabbed home with 18 minutes remaining before a nervous-looking Juventus held on for a valuable first three points of the campaign.

Line-ups

Spezia

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1Zoet
  • 27Amian
  • 15Hristov
  • 43NikolaouBooked at 85mins
  • 20Bastoni
  • 21Ferrer
  • 6BourabiaSubstituted forSalaat 77'minutes
  • 10VerdeSubstituted forManajat 77'minutes
  • 25MaggioreSubstituted forSalcedo Moraat 85'minutes
  • 11Gyasi
  • 22AntisteSubstituted forNzolaat 77'minutesBooked at 90mins

Substitutes

  • 7Sala
  • 9Manaj
  • 14Kiwior
  • 17Podgoreanu
  • 18Nzola
  • 29Salcedo Mora
  • 40Zovko
  • 44Strelec
  • 77Bertola
  • 94Provedel

Juventus

Formation 4-4-2

  • 1Szczesny
  • 6Danilo
  • 19Bonucci
  • 4de Ligt
  • 2De SciglioSubstituted forAlex Sandroat 45'minutes
  • 22ChiesaSubstituted forKulusevskiat 84'minutes
  • 14McKennie
  • 30BentancurSubstituted forLocatelliat 45'minutes
  • 25RabiotSubstituted forBernardeschiat 67'minutes
  • 10Dybala
  • 18KeanSubstituted forMorataat 59'minutesBooked at 90mins

Substitutes

  • 8Ramsey
  • 9Morata
  • 11Ju Cuadrado
  • 12Alex Sandro
  • 17Pellegrini
  • 20Bernardeschi
  • 23Pinsoglio
  • 24Rugani
  • 27Locatelli
  • 36Perin
  • 44Kulusevski
Referee:
Gianluca Aureliano
Attendance:
5,700

Match Stats

Home TeamSpeziaAway TeamJuventus
Possession
Home40%
Away60%
Shots
Home10
Away26
Shots on Target
Home5
Away9
Corners
Home5
Away15
Fouls
Home14
Away10

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Spezia 2, Juventus 3.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Spezia 2, Juventus 3.

  3. Post update

    Álvaro Morata (Juventus) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  4. Post update

    Foul by Kelvin Amian (Spezia).

  5. Post update

    Corner, Juventus. Conceded by Jacopo Sala.

  6. Booking

    M'Bala Nzola (Spezia) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  7. Post update

    Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  8. Post update

    Foul by M'Bala Nzola (Spezia).

  9. Post update

    Attempt missed. Álvaro Morata (Juventus) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Manuel Locatelli.

  10. Booking

    Álvaro Morata (Juventus) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  11. Post update

    Foul by Álvaro Morata (Juventus).

  12. Post update

    Dimitrios Nikolaou (Spezia) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  13. Post update

    Attempt missed. Kelvin Amian (Spezia) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Simone Bastoni with a cross following a corner.

  14. Post update

    Corner, Spezia. Conceded by Federico Bernardeschi.

  15. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Emmanuel Gyasi (Spezia) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Simone Bastoni with a cross.

  16. Post update

    Corner, Spezia. Conceded by Alex Sandro.

  17. Substitution

    Substitution, Spezia. Eddie Salcedo replaces Giulio Maggiore.

  18. Booking

    Dimitrios Nikolaou (Spezia) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  19. Post update

    Dejan Kulusevski (Juventus) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  20. Post update

    Foul by Dimitrios Nikolaou (Spezia).

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Scores, Results & Fixtures

Wednesday 22nd September 2021

As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Inter Milan54101851313
2AC Milan5410102813
3Napoli4400102812
4Atalanta531164210
5Roma430111569
6Fiorentina530289-19
7Bologna5221710-38
8Lazio421111657
9Udinese42116607
10Torino42027436
11Empoli520358-36
12Sampdoria41215325
13Juventus512278-15
14Sassuolo511357-24
15Hellas Verona5113811-34
16Genoa5113712-54
17Spezia5113713-64
18Venezia5104310-73
19Cagliari5023713-62
20Salernitana5014414-101
View full Italian Serie A table

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