Having previously won just four times on hostile turf across all competitions, Juventus didn’t make their 200-mile journey to Pisa with a great reputation for travelling. Andrea Cambiaso set the tone for Juventus’ fruitless first-half domination in the opening minute by ballooning the ball over the bar, before Weston McKennie failed to beat Adrian Šemper from a tight angle. Kenan Yıldız then saw his first sight of goal sail narrowly over the crossbar, before Loïs Openda planted an effort straight at Šemper.
Though they were expected to build on their 1-0 success at Bologna nearly a fortnight ago, Juve failed to create clear opportunities in the final 20 minutes of the first half either, while at the other end, Pisa seldom looked like adding to their measly total of one home goal all season. That was until the final minute before HT, when a corner was played short to Michel Aebischer, and his cross was thundered against the crossbar and out by Stefano Moreo.
Returning from the break with newfound belief, I Nerazzurri then had the first chance of the second half when a deflection was needed to take Samuele Angori’s fierce free-kick whistling past the post. The visitors seemed to be regaining the ascendancy when Manuel Locatelli drilled the ball into Semper’s midriff, only for Pisa to hit the woodwork again on the hour mark, when Matteo Tramoni met a cross firmly with his head and guided the ball onto the outside of the post.
No sooner had Michele Di Gregorio’s post stopped shaking than Lloyd Kelly found space in the Pisa box and powered a strike against the frame of the hosts’ goal. But where one Juve defender came close, another forced the breakthrough in the 74th minute.
An intricate move on the right involving Edon Zhegrova and Cambiaso unlocked the Pisa defence, before Arturo Calabresi could only deflect McKennie’s low centre against Pierre Kalulu, sending the ball goalwards before the Pisa man’s final touch helped it in.
I Bianconeri held off late pressure before Jonathan David broke clear in added time and combined with Fabio Miretti to set up Yıldız to round off an eighth win from 12 under Luciano Spalletti, while the first H2H of the current century saw Pisa’s losing run in this fixture stretch to nine games.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Weston McKennie (Juventus)