Staff Reporter.
Juventus produced a second-half fightback to earn their first Serie A victory of the season against Spezia.
Centre-back Matthijs de Ligt scored the winner from a corner six minutes after Federico Chiesa’s equaliser.
Spezia had produced their own comeback from a goal down through Emmanuel Gyasi and Janis Antiste, after Moise Kean’s low strike into the bottom corner gave Juventus a 28th-minute lead.
Victory moves Massimiliano Allegri’s side up to 12th in the table.
Manager Allegri billed the match as a “relegation six-pointer” after two points from four matches had left Juventus in the bottom three.
Having failed to win any of their first four games for only the fourth time in the club’s history, Kean’s first Juventus goal since rejoining from Everton in August temporarily relieved some of the pressure on the visitors.
But Gyasi levelled with a looping strike five minutes later and, after a couple of good saves by goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet from Paolo Dybala at the end of the first half, Antiste’s deflected shot threatened to extend Juve’s miserable start.
Chiesa, rewarded for his persistence as the ball broke kindly for his goal, led the Juventus fightback and De Ligt stabbed home with 18 minutes remaining before a nervous-looking Juventus held on for a valuable first three points of the campaign.
“They scored at the beginning of the second half, but our character to win was important,” De Ligt told DAZN. “The only thing that mattered was the three points.
“At Juventus we have to win all the games, now we have to start this season again, now we have that win.”
All was not well in the Juve camp coming into the match, with Allegri’s team having not won any of their opening four league games of the season for the first time since 1961-62.