Juventus made the most of their scoring opportunities with Moise Kean and Angel Di Maria, but managerless Spezia saw their hard work go to waste and lost Bartlomiej Dragowski to injury.

The Bianconeri had to rotate the squad after the 1-1 Europa League draw with Nantes on Thursday, and a crucial second leg coming up next week, as Federico Chiesa, Arkadiusz Milik, Fabio Miretti, Paul Pogba and Kaio Jorge were out of action. Gleison Bremer sat out a ban, with Nicolò Fagioli not fully fit. Spezia sacked Luca Gotti on Wednesday and had new chief Leonardo Semplici lined up, but he had not yet signed the contract, so Fabrizio Lorieri was on the bench as caretaker. Salvatore Esposito was banned, with Simone Bastoni, Szymon Zurkowski, Jacopo Sala, Joao Moutinho and Jeroen Zoet injured, but Ethan Ampadu and Mattia Caldara returned from suspension.

It was the worst possible start for Manuel Locatelli, who was booked after 20 seconds for a late lunge to stop a counter-attack and will be suspended for the Derby della Mole against Torino.

Daniele Verde fired at Mattia Perin after Filip Kostic was pressed into losing possession, and Dusan Vlahovic had the ball in the net only after he had wandered a long way offside.

Spezia had a scare on 18 minutes when Bartlomiej Dragowski fell clutching the top of his thigh after a goal kick and he carried on for a few more minutes before having to make way for third choice Federico Marchetti, as Zoet was also injured. This was Marchetti’s first Serie A appearance since May 2021.

Ampadu bravely charged down Kostic’s strike with his head and as the move continued Locatelli’s effort was deflected off target. From the resulting corner, Danilo’s header glanced just wide of both the far post and Dusan Vlahovic’s foot.

Marchetti conceded the opening goal, because Kostic got away down the left and Ampadu failed to cut out the cross, allowing Moise Kean to scuff his volley into the ground, the bounce taking it into the far corner.

Spezia could’ve equalised moments later, but Eldor Shomurodov’s towering header was over the bar, then another from the Uzbekistan international was captured by Perin and Emmanuel Gyasi slid in just beyond the Verde cross at the back post.

Kean nodded an Alex Sandro cross off target straight after the restart and Gyasi’s header was straight at Perin, but Danilo had to fling himself in the way of Shomurodov’s strike in the six-yard box.

It was increasingly all Spezia and Verde was unlucky to see his ferocious volley accidentally deflected by teammate Shomurodov.

They did not take their chances and Juventus did, introducing quality with not fully fit Di Maria off the bench and he made the difference with a precise snooker shot from distance into the far bottom corner, just beyond Marchetti’s fingertips.

Fagioli fired straight at Marchetti, but Perin had to make a fantastic reaction save on Emmanuel Gyasi’s first-time strike from 10 yards, using his body to parry off the line.

The goalkeeper was again called into action, flying to beat away a Nikolaou header from a corner.

Spezia 0-2 Juventus

Kean 32 (J), Di Maria 66 (J)

19-02-2023 17:00
MatchDay 23

Player statistic

1st half
    1' Yellow card Manuel Locatelli
Kevin Agudelo Yellow card 16'    
    32' Goal Moise Kean
(Assist: Filip Kostic)
2nd half
    51' Yellow card Nicolò Fagioli
Arkadiusz Reca Yellow card 55'    
    66' Goal Ángel Di María
(Assist: Danilo)

Match statistic

58
Possession %
42
18
Total shots
15
7
Shots on target
3
3
Shots off target
9
8
Blocked shots
3
7
Corners
4
2
Offsides
4
8
Fouls
9
Spezia
Juventus

Starting lineups

69
25'
43
4
Defender
27
Defender
8
Midfielder
79'
13
Midfielder
6
Midfielder
10
Attacker
79'
14
Attacker
11
Attacker
33
Attacker
59'
36
Goalkeeper
12
Defender
24
Defender
6
Defender
11
Defender
46'
25
Midfielder
17
Midfielder
81'
32
Midfielder
46'
5
Midfielder
9
Attacker
90'
18
Attacker
56'

Substitutes

24
Midfielder
21
Defender
40
Goalkeeper
19
Attacker
55
16
Midfielder
72
Midfielder
65
22
Goalkeeper
25'
18
Attacker
59'
30
Midfielder
79'
29
Defender
79'
23
Goalkeeper
1
Goalkeeper
30
Attacker
15
Defender
45
Midfielder
2
46'
44
Midfielder
46'
22
Attacker
56'
43
81'
19
Defender
90'

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