Kenan Yildiz gave Luciano Spalletti his first home win as Juventus coach with a crucial brace in Saturday’s 2-1 success against Cagliari in Serie A.
Turkey forward Yildiz saved Juve’s blushes with the winning goal in stoppage time at the end of the first half with a typically stylish finish after bursting towards the Cagliari area.
That was Yildiz’s fifth goal of the season for Juve and came after he levelled the scores with a deflected strike in the 27th minute, seconds after Sebastiano Esposito gave Cagliari a shock lead.
“Yildiz has the qualities of a great player; he gave us the win out of nothing,” said Spalletti.
“I’m trying to give him as much freedom as possible and liberate him from tactical concerns. He’s really great in tight spaces.”
Juve are seventh on 23 points, four behind league leaders Roma, who face third-placed Napoli on Sunday, thanks to another top-drawer display from Yildiz.
The 20-year-old came off the bench to drive Juve to a 3-2 victory at Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday night — the “Old Lady” of Italian football’s first win in the Champions League this season.
Spalletti said that he is “enthusiastic” to head back to Naples on Sunday week for one of the fieriest rivalries in the game.
He will likely have to face Napoli, the team he led to a historic third league title in 2023, without Dusan Vlahovic after the Serbia striker picked up what looked like a thigh injury in the first half.
That is a blow for Spalletti, who has made Vlahovic his first-choice centre forward as he tries to inspire the Turin giants following the sacking of Igor Tudor.
“I don’t have a good feeling about it,” said Spalletti of the injury.
“I tried to rest him at Bodo, we’ve done everything we can to give him rest, but in the end it’s not made a difference.”
AC Milan, second and level on 25 points with Napoli, can take the provisional lead of Italy’s top flight later with a win over Lazio at the San Siro.
AFP
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