Serbian Dusan Vlahovic scored a goal in the last minutes to lead Juventus to a 1-0 victory over neighbors and local rivals Torino in the Italian Serie A on Saturday.
Juventus were under pressure after losing 2-0 to Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League on Tuesday, but the lackluster performance of the side, which suffered many absences in the first half, did not cause optimism.
“I’m happy, especially since it’s the first away victory this season. We failed to score in three of the last five games we played, so it was not easy. The team showed the strength of its character,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri told the Dzon platform.
Juventus are missing Angel Di Maria, who will be out until early next month due to a hamstring injury. The midfield was affected by the absence of the playmaker and he struggled to create chances and made space against Torino.
And almost the first half did not witness any serious chances from both teams. Torino tried timidly to score from outside the penalty area, but the Juventus defense was on the lookout.
Striker Vlahovic had his first real chance to score in the 34th minute, but fellow goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic brilliantly blocked his attempt before Manuel Locatelli prevented him from scoring.
Milinkovic-Savic grabbed the spotlight again at the beginning of the first half, when he brilliantly blocked Locatelli’s shot, which was on its way to the net.
Moise Kean came close to putting Juventus ahead in the 62nd minute, but his shot missed from close range.
In the 74th minute, Vlahovic got rid of defensive control and scored from close range, taking advantage of Danilo’s pass, to give Juventus a valuable victory.
“The last period has been frustrating, but sometimes things are out of our hands. Today we took a small step out of this situation, and I had no doubts that the team would succeed, and now we need to continue,” Allegri added.
Juventus rose to seventh place with 16 points from ten matches, while Turin came in 11th place with 11 points.