Late Kean strike gives Juventus important win in Serie A

Moise Kean’s late goal on Monday handed Juventus a 2-1 win over Sassuolo in Serie A, allowing them to cut the distance on third-placed Napoli to just one point.

When Kean scored two minutes from time, Sassuolo had done more than enough to earn a share of the points.

Kean, a 67th-minute substitute for Alvaro Morata, turned Vlad Chiriches and fired the ball through goalkeeper Andrea Consigli’s legs at the near post after a long ball out of defense from Leonardo Bonucci.

Juve is now in fourth place, eight points behind leaders AC Milan but, perhaps more importantly, eight points ahead of Roma, who are chasing them for the final Champions League slot.

Sassuolo had the better of the game for the majority of it, causing concerns from the start when Davide Frattesi’s near-post header from a Domenico Berardi corner brushed the crossbar on its way over.

Gianluca Scamacca was also impressive, forcing Wojciech Szczesny, the Juventus goalkeeper, into a superb save.

Juve’s first meaningful attack nearly paid off when Paulo Dybala thought he’d reached the back of the net, only for Frattesi to block at the last moment.

In the 39th minute, Sassuolo took the lead for the first time.

Berardi executed a lovely backheel to send Giacomo Raspadori free after Morata lost possession in midfield.

Szczesny had little chance against Raspadori’s thunderous shot, but Juve were level at the break.

Despite Sassuolo’s protests that Morata fouled Giorgos Kyriakopoulos in the build-up, Dybala made light of a difficult angle to lash the ball into the roof of the net.

As Juve consolidated their place in the top four, this set the stage for Kean’s last-gasp heroics.

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