Vlahovic ends goal drought to fire Juventus second

MILAN: Dusan Vlahovic shot Juventus into second place in Serie A on Wednesday (May 3) with his first Serie A goal in nearly three months which earned his team a 2-1 win over struggling Lecce.

Serbia striker Vlahovic lashed in what turned out to the winning goal five minutes before half-time at a sparsely-populated Allianz Stadium in Turin.

The ex-Fiorentina attacker's ninth league goal of the season, and his first since early February, came after Assan Ceesay's 37th-minute penalty for the away side had levelled Leandro Paredes's early free-kick.

"He scored a great goal and he improved as the game went on," said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.

"He had never experienced this sort of thing before, as at Fiorentina everything always went well, but every player has a period like this in their careers.

"He just needed to get through it."

Juve are two points ahead of Lazio, who host Sassuolo later on Wednesday knowing anything but a win will hand Napoli their first league title since 1990 before the runaway leaders head to Udinese on Thursday.

But even if Lazio do win at the Stadio Olimpico, Napoli would need only one more point from their final six matches to claim a historic Scudetto.

Allegri's side broke a four-match winless run but their chances of making the Champions League hinge on a new ruling over their 15-point deduction for illicit transfer activity which was revoked on appeal last month.

And they lost defender Mattia De Sciglio to a torn cruciate ligament in his right knee, the Italy defender now set for a long spell on the sidelines after being stretchered off in the first half.

Defeat leaves Lecce four points above the relegation zone, although their fight for survival was helped by 18th-paced Spezia falling 3-2 at