Weston McKennie scored a much-needed goal as Juventus could only muster a point against Lecce in Serie A action.
Juventus 1-1 Lecce
Juventus was dominant throughout the game, but further goals were hard to come by as they had to come back for a tie against Lecce at Allianz Stadium
Weston McKennie started and played 83 minutes for the Old Lady, making 51 touches, completing 83 percent passing, making three key passes, and taking a shot on target.
The hosts were on the attack at the start of the whistle as they hunted for goals. However, they were unlucky break the scoreless deadlock. McKennie came close to scoring in the 13th minute when his shot on the penalty spot was blocked by a Lecce defender.
Juventus was then shocked in the first minute of stoppage time when Lameck Banda scored for Lecce. A poor pass across the width of the field allowed the Zambian international to pounce and blast his shot past goalkeeper Michele DiGregorio.
A round of whistles at halftime meant Juventus needed a response to lift the fans, and they did just minutes into the second half.
Manuel Locatelli’s long pass from the hosts’ end found Edon Zhegrova on the right side. A cross to McKennie was then passed to Kenan Yildiz. The Turkish international’s shot took a deflection, but the ball fell right at the feet of the American utilityman as he steered it past Lecce goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone to level the score.
Juventus then had an excellent chance to take the lead after the hour mark of the game when the video assistant referee confirmed a penalty in the area due to a handball. Jonathan David stepped up for the spot kick, but his weak attempt was kicked away by Falcone.
The Bianconeri sits in fourth place in the standings with 33 points, six behind leaders Inter Milan.
Notes
Around Serie A, Christian Pulisic came on to play the final 10 minutes as AC Milan came away with a 1-0 win over Cagliari.
Atalanta secured a 1-0 win over Roma, with Yunus Musah seeing 30 minutes of action.
Ben Cremaschi was an unused substitute as Parma shared the spoils with Sassuolo following a 1-1 tie.