The Bianconeri were held to a 1-1 draw against Lecce after a rare Gigi Buffon mistake allowed the relegation-threatened visitors to snatch a point at Juventus Stadium. Antonio Conte’s men dominated from start to finish and had plenty of occasions to add to Marchisio’s early headed goal. Yet the plucky visitors, reduced to ten men shortly after the interval, absorbed the pressure before delivering a sucker punch with just six minutes remaining.
Juventus began brightly, playing with the customary confidence and swagger that has typified their season so far. De Ceglie pulled up after feeling some discomfort in the opening stages, with Caceres slotting in on the left-hand side in place of the injured full-back.
But the early injury setback failed to dampen Juve’s spirits as they raced in front with just eight minutes on the clock. Pirlo cut inside and sent in a perfectly weighted cross which sprung the offside trap and found Marchisio on hand to glance a neat header past Benassi.
With Lecce fighting to avoid slipping out of the top flight, Conte’s men set about extending their lead in order to see off their spirited opponents. And goal number two almost arrived midway through the first half when Vidal connected with Marchisio’s lofted pass before lashing a close-range shot just wide of the post.
The ‘Little Prince’ then went close to doubling his tally with a delicately placed strike from 25 yards, but found Benassi equal to it, diving to his left to push the ball out for a corner.
The Giallorossi’s combative nature boiled over nine minutes into the restart as Cuadrado was sent for an early bath after hauling Caceres to ground. Valeri had no hesitation in producing a second yellow, leaving the visitors down to ten men.
A numerical advantage gave the hosts even more reason to venture forward and unlock the Lecce rearguard for a second occasion. And this only looked like being a matter of time as Juventus passed and moved with precision and belief. Vidal saw another chance fall his way following good link up play from Quagliarella and Vucinic, but was unable to make clean contact when bearing down on goal.
Quagliarella had two opportunities to extend Juve’s advantage just past the hour mark. First, the striker latched onto a Lecce clearance to rifle a dipping volley narrowly over the crossbar. Then, he bent a curling 25-yard effort towards the far post which forced Benassi to sprawl to his left and make the save.
Conte reshuffed his strikeforce with twenty minutes remaining, introducing Matri and Del Piero for Quagliarella and Vucinic. The ex-Cagliari frontman did well to fashion a chance out of a seemingly difficult situation, drawing a save from an acute angle following a fine solo run.
But as the game entered the final ten minutes, Lecce altered their approach. The visitors’ dogged defending had allowed them to successfully weather the storm up until now and, with their Serie A status at stake, they threw bodies forward to try and grab an unlikely equaliser.
And their survival hopes were boosted when Buffon failed to get Barzagli’s backpass under control, leaving Bertolacci with the simple task of rounding the goalkeeper to tap into an empty net with six minutes remaining.
The 1-1 draw sees the Bianconeri maintain top spot, with their lead trimmed to just one point after Milan’s home win over Atalanta. Conte’s men will have to keep fighting right until the end, just as they have done all season.
JUVENTUS 1-1 LECCE
GOALS: Marchisio 8, Bertolacci 84
JUVENTUS
Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Lichtsteiner, Vidal, Pirlo, Marchisio, De Ceglie (Caceres 6); Vucinic (Del Piero 77), Quagliarella (Matri 72).
Substitutes not used: Storari, Padoin, Giaccherini, Borriello.
Manager: Conte
LECCE
Benassi; Carrozzieri, Miglionico, Tomovic; Cuadrado, Blasi, Obodo (Bertolacci 71), Delvecchio, Brivio; Seferovic (Muriel 50), Di Michele (Giacomazzi 61).
Substitutes not used: Petrachi, Di Matteo, Giandonato, Bojinov.
Manager: Cosmi
REFEREE: Valeri
ASSISTANTS: Grilli, Cariolato
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Gava
BOOKINGS: Cuadrado 20, Carrozzieri 45, Obodo 50, Cuadrado 54, Bonucci 65, Muriel 83, Delvecchio 83
SENT OFF: Cuadrado 54
Source: Juventus.com
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