Luiz stars to clinch much-needed win for Juventus
Douglas Luiz got a goal and an assist to lead Juventus to a 2-0 win over Lecce, which finished with 10 men at Stadio Ettore Giardiniero.
Luciano Spalletti has come under pressure after a topsy-turvy start to the season, but Luiz set up Weston McKennie before bagging a goal himself to get Juve back to winning ways in Serie A.
Lecce was almost in front after just 27 seconds as Konan N'Dri stuck out a leg to block Guglielmo Vicario's clearance on the edge of the six-yard box, but it flew just wide.
The host side continued to show the greater threat in front of goal, but without testing Vicario, as Amar Fatah curled high and wide of the top-right corner.
But Juve opened the scoring with their first shot after Luiz won a central free-kick, which he clipped over Lecce's defence to pick out McKennie, who guided a scuffed first-time finish over Wladimiro Falcone after 29 minutes.
That sparked Juve into life, and Randal Kolo Muani fired wide before Luiz doubled their lead four minutes before the break, sweeping a long-range shot past Falcone, despite the goalkeeper getting a touch on it.
Lecce was on the front foot again at the start of the second half, with Oumar Ngom and Kialonda Gaspar both seeing efforts comfortably saved by Vicario.
Vicario also kept out Paco Esteban and N'Dri on either side of Nick Woltemade blazing over while one-on-one at close range, with Juventus holding out for a win.
With only seconds remaining, Lecce was dealt a blow for their next match against Frosinone, as Gaspar was shown a second yellow card – this one for dissent.
