February 19, (THEWILL) – Juventus secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Spezia on Sunday, but it was not without challenges.
Manuel Locatelli was booked within the first 20 seconds for a late tackle and will be suspended for Juve’s Derby della Mole against Torino. Despite Spezia having a scare with an injury to Bartlomiej Dragowski, the goalkeeper carried on for a few minutes before being replaced by Federico Marchetti, who made his first Serie A appearance since May 2021.
Both teams were short-handed with Simone Bastoni, Szymon Zurkowski, Jacopo Sala, Joao Moutinho, and Jeroen Zoet injured for Spezia. Also, Federico Chiesa, Arkadiusz Milik, Fabio Miretti, Paul Pogba, and Kaio Jorge were out of action for Juventus. Nicolò Fagioli is not fully fit.
Spezia almost equalised moments after Juventus’ first goal, but they missed several key chances while Juventus made the most of their opportunities. Moise Kean scored the opening goal after a scuffed volley, and Angel Di Maria completed the scoring off the bench. Despite Spezia’s hard work, the team lost to Juventus because they let their opportunities go to waste.
It was good for Massimiliano Allegri and his charges because the match was of great significance for the Old Lady, with the team having to rotate their squad after a 1-1 Europa League draw with Nantes on Thursday and a crucial second leg coming up next week. Meanwhile, Spezia are away to Udinese next Sunday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
