Emmanuel Gyasi and Janis Antiste put Spezia ahead after Moise Kean's opener and then Federico Chiesa equalized before Matthijs de Ligt struck the winner.
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Juventus produced a second-half fightback to squeeze out a 3-2 win against Spezia at Alberto Picco on Wednesday. It was their first Serie A victory of the season in five matches. Moise Kean had opened the scoring for the visitors in the 28th minute before Emmanuel Gyasi and Janis Antiste put Spezia ahead. Federico Chiesa scored the equalizer midway through the second half before Matthijs de Ligt struck the winner for Juventus in the 72nd minute. On the other hand, AC Milan beat Venezia 2-0 at home courtesy of goals from Brahim Diaz and Theo Hernandez.
Early in the match, De Ligt had an opportunity ballooned from inside the box. Adrien Rabiot headed a long pass from the back to the path of Kean. The Italian striker’s shot from the edge of the box went past Spezia goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet and into the bottom corner of the goal. It was the 21-year-old’s first goal since rejoining from Everton this summer.
However, Juventus’ celebrations were short-lived as the hosts equalized within three minutes of the goal. Daniele Verde’s initial attempt, which was a left-footed curler from the right side was saved by Juve custodian Wojciech Szczesny but Gyasi collected the rebound on the left side and cut inside before firing the ball past Zoet with a thumping strike.
Four minutes into the second half, Giulio Maggiore released Antiste with a long ball and the French footballer dribbled forward and made the score 2-1 for the home side with the help of a fortunate deflection from the defender.
In the 66th minute, Chiesa, who was coming back from an injury leveled the score. It was the Italian winger’s persistent pressure that led to the goal. The 23-year-old stole the ball from Verde on the left flank before dribbling inside the box and then the ball fell kindly to him before he slotted it in. And then, with 18 minutes remaining, De Ligt struck the winner as Dybala’s corner fell to him.
Speaking after the game, coach Massimiliano Allegri was pleased to see his side come through adversity to achieve the three points.
“Luckily we won a match suffering. Otherwise, we might have thought we did well and there was nothing more to do.
“There are many things to improve. We have players who must do better in their decisions of the last pass when to shoot on the target.”
Although it wasn’t a convincing performance from Massimiliano Allegri’s side, they will certainly take confidence from their first league victory. The win helped Bianconeri to the 13th spot in the points table with five points whereas Spezia are in the 17th spot.
In the other match of the day at San Siro, both sides missed a number of chances in the first half. But in the 68th minute, Diaz finally broke the deadlock. Ismael Bennacer’s lofted ball found the run of Hernandez on the right side of the box and the substitute set up Diaz to tuck in from close range.
A few minutes later Hernandez tested Venezia goalkeeper Niki Maenpaa with a low free-kick. Alexis Saelemaekers played a one-two with Franck Kessié down the left side before releasing Hernandez on the right. The 23-year-old Frenchman drilled the ball past Maenpaa to seal the three points.
The win helped Stefano Pioli’s side to second spot with 13 points from 5 games whereas Venezia is stuck in the relegation zone with just three points.
