Keane step up to rescue Juventus in Ronaldo’s absence

A second half strike by Moise Kean saw Juventus claim a 1-0 win over Empoli at Allianz Stadium on Saturday evening to move them one step closer to the Scudetto title.

The young striker couldn’t have asked for a better introduction into the game when he handed Juventus the lead with his first effort at goal. The 19-year-old beautifully connected onto the end of Mario Mandzukic’s lay-off to volley a low and direct ball into the back of the net, beating Dragowski with the tightest of angles.

The energy was flowing for the Bianconeri, and they nearly doubled the lead again through Kean when he found himself in a promising position of being one-on-one with the goalkeeper. However, Dragowski held his ground and got a hand to the teenager’s shot.

Juventus’ final change of the match saw Caceres replace Bernardeschi, as the Bianconeri held on to claim all three points in the game.

Juventus XI: Szczesny; Cancelo, Rugani, Chiellini, Alex Sandro (Spinazzola 60’); Emre Can, Pjanic, Matuidi (Kean 68’) Bernardeschi (Caceres 84’), Mandzukic, Bentancur

Substitutes: Perin, Pinsoglio, De Sciglio, Caceres, Bonucci, Spinazzola, Nicolussi Caviglia, Kean.

Empoli XI: Dragowski; Veseli, Maietta (Pasqual 79’), Dell’Orco; Di Lorenzo, Traoré, Bennacer, Krunic, Pajac (Ucan 78’); Farias, Caputo

Substitutes: Provedel, Perucchini, Brighi, Antonelli, Acquah, Pasqual, Capezzi, Oberlin, Nikolaou, Ucan

Prior to the game, Massimiliano Allegri had spoken about the importance of Paulo Dybala in the coming games, and he looked set to start for the Bianconeri but suffered an injury during the warm-up. Rodrigo Bentancur stepped up in his place to adjust the formation into a 4-3-3.