Kean strikes late to gives Juve important win
MOISE KEAN’S late goal gave Juventus a hard-fought 2-1 win at Sassuolo in Serie A yesterday, allowing them to close the gap on third-placed Napoli to one point.
Sassuolo had done more than enough to claim a share of the points when Kean struck two minutes from full-time.
A long ball out of defence from Leonardo
Bonucci ended with Kean, a 67th minute substitute for Alvaro Morata, turning Vlad Chiriches and firing the ball between goalkeeper Andrea Consigli’s legs at the near post.
The last-gasp win keeps Juve in fouth place, eight points adrift of leaders AC Milan but, perhaps more significantly, eight points clear of Roma, who are chasing them for the final Champions League spot.
“It was an important victory for the table. Sassuolo played very well, we
clung in there, although we were a bit too sluggish in the first half and they were able to pierce through us easily,” Juve coach Max Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.
“We did better after the break and were missing a few players, there was fatigue after the Coppa Italia game midweek, so we can only thank the lads.
“It’s a good advantage over fifth place, we are a point off Napoli, so we have to keep working for the objective, which is fourth place.”
“With four rounds left in the season, you have to win the games. The rest does not count for anything.
“Above all, people need to understand the moment we are going through. We cannot try to do what we can’t do right now, we have to focus on doing what we can do.
“The team played the game it needed to play, knowing Sassuolo were fresh, have good technique. We also lost (Matthijs) De Ligt and (Juan) Cuadrado, so we just had to get the points.” –
AFP