What if? What if Juventus can pull off a magic recovery and get back into Champions League contention despite the 15-point deduction? Tonight The Bianconeri moved another step into that direction.
It was the third Serie A win in a row for Juventus with Massimiliano Allegri’s side reacting in the best way possibile after the 1-1 draw against Nantes in Europa League by beating Spezia 2-0 away.
Moise Kean broke the deadlock in the first half, converting Filip Kostic’s sixth assist in the league with a close range volley.
Federico Marchetti, the former Lazio and Genoa goalkeeper who signed with Spezia last January, tonight came on from the bench to replace injured Bartlomiej Dragowski and played his first Serie A game in 465 days.
Juventus doubled their lead in the second half thanks to Angel Di Maria: El Fideo came in for Moise Kean and a few minutes later, scored with an excellent strike from long-distance.
Spezia had a couple of great chances in the early minutes of the second-half and overall play a good game for a team that don’t have coach.
Luca Gotti got fired on Tuesday and the club still has to replace him. Former SPAL and Cagliari Leonardo Semplici is the main candidate and it’s likely that a deal could be finalized tomorrow.
He’ll have an hard task as Spezia have won only one of their last eight Serie A games and they have only two points over the relegation zone before tonight’s clash between Roma and Verona
On the other hand, a tough schedule awaits Juventus: on Thursday the Europa League’s second leg away at Nantes and then on Tuesday the derby against Torino, a match that Manuel Locatelli will miss as he was one booking away from suspension and received a yellow card just 20 seconds into the game.
Player Ratings
Spezia (3-5-2): Dragowski (-); Amian (5), Ampadu (5), Nikolaou (5); Gyasi (6), Agudelo (5), Ekdal (5.5), Bourabia (5.5), Reca (5.5); Shomurodov (6), Verde (6).
Substitutes: Marchetti (5), Nzola (5), Maldini (5.5), Caldara (-).
Juventus (3-5-2): Perin (6.5); Danilo (6), Rugani (6), Alex Sandro (6); Cuadrado (5), Locatelli (6.5), Paredes (5), Rabiot (6), Kostic (6.5); Kean (6.5), Vlahovic (5.5).
Substitutes: Fagioli (6), De Sciglio (6), Di Maria (7), Iling Jr (-), Bonucci (-).
Andrea Agostinelli | GIFN
