CANADA’S JONATHAN DAVID had an 89th minute penalty saved as Juventus missed the chance to put pressure on Serie A leaders AC Milan after a 1-1 draw with Lecce.
Luciano Spalletti’s resurgent Juve had to settle for a point after striker David’s spot-kick went horribly wrong.
Lecce goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone read David’s chip down the middle and parried the ball to safety with an outstretched arm.
“He is one of our penalty-takers, he takes them well, he showed that he has character to shoot down the middle and he did what he had to do,” Spalletti said in defence of his forward.
David’s error meant that the record 36-time Italian champions trail Milan by five points having played a game more.
But they moved up a place to fourth on goal difference after Giorgio Scalvini’s strike gave Atalanta a 1-0 victory over Roma, who dropped to fifth.
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Ireland international Evan Ferguson started and played 60 minutes for Roma.
Lameck Banda put Lecce ahead on the stroke of half-time, firing into the top corner before Juve levelled through Weston McKennie shortly after the restart.
The hosts were on a run of three straight Serie A wins and seven wins in their last eight games in all competitions.
Milan won 1-0 at Cagliari on Friday but Inter Milan can leapfrog their city rivals with a win over Bologna on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski’s late strikes helped Barcelona snatch a 2-0 win at Espanyol to move seven points clear at the top of La Liga.
The champions were largely outplayed by their city rivals and had goalkeeper Joan Garcia to thank for keeping them afloat in the derby clash against his former side before Olmo curled home in the 86th minute.
Fermin Lopez created Olmo’s goal before laying the second on a plate for Lewandowski as Barca claimed a ninth consecutive league victory and ended Espanyol’s own run of five wins in a row.
Manolo Gonzalez’s side, fifth, deserved at least a point from a typically spiky battle at the RCDE Stadium, before the late goals from two Barca substitutes.
Second-placed Real Madrid host Real Betis on Sunday.
And Former Leicester coach Claude Puel guided Nice to a 1-1 draw with Strasbourg in Ligue 1 as he started his second spell in charge by ending a six-game losing streak in the league.
Argentina attacker Joaquin Panichelli opened the scoring for the visitors on the Cote d’Azur inside the first quarter of an hour.
New signing Elye Wahi claimed the point for the hosts barely 10 minutes after the break, having joined on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday.
Strasbourg head coach Liam Rosenior has been strongly linked with the Chelsea job, and his current charges are in seventh, while Nice remain 13th.
Frenchman Puel replaced Franck Haise on the French Riviera on Monday with Nice struggling just five points above the relegation play-off spot.
The 64-year-old had been in charge of Nice between 2012 and 2016 before a two-year spell at Leicester.
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Juventus held by lowly Lecce, Roma drop to fifth after Atalanta loss
CANADA’S JONATHAN DAVID had an 89th minute penalty saved as Juventus missed the chance to put pressure on Serie A leaders AC Milan after a 1-1 draw with Lecce.
Luciano Spalletti’s resurgent Juve had to settle for a point after striker David’s spot-kick went horribly wrong.
Lecce goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone read David’s chip down the middle and parried the ball to safety with an outstretched arm.
“He is one of our penalty-takers, he takes them well, he showed that he has character to shoot down the middle and he did what he had to do,” Spalletti said in defence of his forward.
David’s error meant that the record 36-time Italian champions trail Milan by five points having played a game more.
But they moved up a place to fourth on goal difference after Giorgio Scalvini’s strike gave Atalanta a 1-0 victory over Roma, who dropped to fifth.
Ireland international Evan Ferguson started and played 60 minutes for Roma.
Lameck Banda put Lecce ahead on the stroke of half-time, firing into the top corner before Juve levelled through Weston McKennie shortly after the restart.
The hosts were on a run of three straight Serie A wins and seven wins in their last eight games in all competitions.
Milan won 1-0 at Cagliari on Friday but Inter Milan can leapfrog their city rivals with a win over Bologna on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski’s late strikes helped Barcelona snatch a 2-0 win at Espanyol to move seven points clear at the top of La Liga.
The champions were largely outplayed by their city rivals and had goalkeeper Joan Garcia to thank for keeping them afloat in the derby clash against his former side before Olmo curled home in the 86th minute.
Fermin Lopez created Olmo’s goal before laying the second on a plate for Lewandowski as Barca claimed a ninth consecutive league victory and ended Espanyol’s own run of five wins in a row.
Manolo Gonzalez’s side, fifth, deserved at least a point from a typically spiky battle at the RCDE Stadium, before the late goals from two Barca substitutes.
Second-placed Real Madrid host Real Betis on Sunday.
And Former Leicester coach Claude Puel guided Nice to a 1-1 draw with Strasbourg in Ligue 1 as he started his second spell in charge by ending a six-game losing streak in the league.
Argentina attacker Joaquin Panichelli opened the scoring for the visitors on the Cote d’Azur inside the first quarter of an hour.
New signing Elye Wahi claimed the point for the hosts barely 10 minutes after the break, having joined on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday.
Strasbourg head coach Liam Rosenior has been strongly linked with the Chelsea job, and his current charges are in seventh, while Nice remain 13th.
Frenchman Puel replaced Franck Haise on the French Riviera on Monday with Nice struggling just five points above the relegation play-off spot.
The 64-year-old had been in charge of Nice between 2012 and 2016 before a two-year spell at Leicester.
– © AFP 2026
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