Yildiz strikes late to put Juventus in third place
Kenan Yildiz's late goal helped Juventus claim a 2-0 win over Pisa and move it up to third in Serie A, one point behind current leader Inter Milan.
Pisa twice struck the woodwork in the game, but also scored an own-goal as Juventus failed to convince against the side second from bottom on the league table.
Juventus started brightly, but failed to cause Adrian Semper too many issues as Weston McKennie's tight-angled shot was kept out before Yildiz bent one just wide.
But Pisa grew into the game as the half went on and should have taken the lead in the 44th minute when Stefano Moreo drifted away on a short corner and flicked a header against the crossbar.
The hosts picked up where they left off after the break, with Samuele Angori's bending effort deflected just wide of the top-left corner three minutes into the second half.
An unmarked Matteo Tramoni then struck the foot of the post with a header shortly after the hour, while Lloyd Kelly also struck the goal frame minutes later with a pacey drive.
But Pisa's profligacy was punished in the 73rd minute, as Arturo Calabresi's attempts to hold off Pierre Kalulu and clear McKennie's shot saw him turn the ball past Semper instead.
Juventus finished strongly. After Edon Zhegrova saw an effort tipped over late on, Yildiz was on hand to slot into an empty net after great work from Jonathan David.
Juventus has now won its past three matches since losing to Napoli, and is right in the mix at the top of the table.
It has now won seven of its past eight games in all competitions, two more than it managed in its first 16 matches this season, and from those eight games it has recorded only one defeat.
But coach Luciano Spalletti insisted that his Juventus side still needs to do better after watching it labour somewhat against Pisa.
“Our tempo was slow, the last six to seven minutes and first six to seven minutes of the second half were bad, as Pisa caused problems with its intensity and we were fortunate in those situations,” Spalletti said.
“In the second half, we had more quality, were more inventive, [Edon] Zhegrova and [Jonathan] David did well, giving us more quality in the final third. We were able to score and at that moment of the game I felt it was deserved, as we were creating spaces in the box.
“We ought to do better and we need to do better.
“I thought Pisa played very well and it was similar to its defeat against Inter, which suffered here for 70 minutes. Pisa is not fortunate at the moment.
“Our problem is that we are a strong team, but we’ve got to prove it every time we step onto the pitch, and we were below par in too many ways during the first half.”
