LECCE: Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic scored after 10 seconds to secure a 1-0 win at relegation-threatened Lecce in Serie A on Saturday, moving his side into provisional third place and strengthening their grip on a Champions League qualifying spot.
The victory takes Luciano Spalletti’s team to 68 points, a point above AC Milan, who host Atalanta on Sunday, and four points clear of fifth-placed AS Roma, who visit Parma.
Only two full rounds of fixtures will remain once the weekend schedule is completed.
For Lecce, the result means they are not yet out of the woods in their battle to avoid the drop.
They are 17th, four points clear of the final place in the drop zone occupied by Cremonese, who host Pisa on Sunday. Bottom side Pisa and Hellas Verona have already been relegated.
Vlahovic broke the deadlock at the Stadio Via del Mare with Juve’s quickest league goal since records began in 2004.
After bringing down an Andrea Cambiaso cross from the left, the Serbia striker manoeuvred past three markers and lashed a shot into the roof of the net from close range.
The visitors dominated much of the contest and were twice denied a second goal by VAR interventions. However, despite Juventus creating several opportunities to extend their lead, Vlahovic’s early goal was enough to secure the points.
“The most important thing was the result. We got the three points, we absolutely must win the remaining two games,” Vlahovic told Sky Sports Italia.
“It was all in our hands. If we win the remaining games, then there’s nothing anyone else can do about it. We know what is at stake, so we must go out there and win,” he added.
Spalletti expressed his frustration with Juve’s inability to wrap up the points sooner.
“We’ve been saying for a while that we keep doing this, we score early and then don’t finish the games off. It’s like a cut and paste of previous mistakes,” he said.
“A game like this one cannot end 1-0. We barely allowed them to get into our half. There were so many situations where we had two attacking options and always went for the third worst one. That’s just what we are like.”
