Juventus’ 10 men were held to a 1-1 draw by Empoli in Serie A (SA) following Arkadiusz Milik early red, making this the first H2H between these sides to end level since March 2008.
La Vecchia Signora dominated possession in the early stages but couldn’t quite find the opener. Elia Caprile palmed away an ambitious Dušan Vlahović free-kick and Andrea Cambiaso strike. Their match was soon completely changed though. Arkadiusz Milik saw red for a lunging tackle on Alberto Cerri just 18 minutes into his fourth SA start of the season.
Empoli utilised their man advantage to make more of a mark on proceedings. Nicolò Cambiaghi conjuring one venomous effort and a more delicate one to test Wojciech Szczęsny. They also saw plenty of the ball but struggled to do anything meaninful. Juventus dropped deep and was willing to soak up pressure. Seconds before the whistle was blown for HT saw Fabio Miretti intercepting Emmanuel Gyasi’s lax pass, but he couldn’t capitalise and fired over the crossbar under pressure from Sebastian Walukiewicz.
Dušan Vlahović was never going to be as wasteful in his current goalscoring form. Just five minutes into the second period, Federico Gatti’s blocked header saw the ball drop invitingly for the striker to convert the fifth goal in his last three games. Vlahović could have had an assist shortly after, but Cambiaso slipped at the vital moment. Empoli had been crying out for some form of creativity and conviction, which arrived through substitute Tommasso Baldanzi. He collects Sebastiano Luperto’s pass and sent a pinpoint strike into the bottom corner.
Matteo Cancellieri had a brilliant chance to win it for the visitors after being played through by a wonderful Cambiaghi pass but was let down by his touch. Juventus extended their unbeaten streak to 19 matches despite being a man down for so long. Their seven-game winning run though was brought to an end. Having held SA’s table-toppers, Empoli are unbeaten in their two matches under Davide Nicola and are just one point from safety.
