Juventus were held to a second consecutive goalless draw, Empoli remain unbeaten despite Thiago Motta’s first four starts for four big summer signings.
The Bianconeri handed their first starts to Teun Koopmeiners, Nico Gonzalez, Douglas Luiz and Pierre Kalulu, with Mattia Perin taking the gloves as part of the team rotation, plus Francisco Conceicao and Arkadiusz Milik injured. The hosts were also undefeated this seasonincluding a 2-1 away win over Roma, but Jacopo Fazzini joined Szymon Zurkowski, Luca Belardinelli, Samuele Perisan and Tyronne Ebuehi on the treatment table.
See how it went on the Liveblog.
Former AC Milan full-back Kalulu made an immediate impact with his interception to deny Emmanuel Gyasi a tap-in from Giuseppe Pezzella’s cross, while Ardian Ismajli made a decisive and risky sliding tackle as Dusan Vlahovic was cleared by Kenan Yildiz.
Devis Vasquez volleyed in to deflect a Federico Gatti header under the bar from a corner taken short by Koopmeiners, with Vlahovic turning in another from six yards after the restart.
Nico Gonzalez’s inspired pass sent Vlahovic running but Vasquez pushed his attempt away, then Koopmeiners diverted Andrea Cambiaso’s cross for Nico Gonzalez to make a desperate clearance inside the penalty area.
Thiago Motta was clearly not happy, making four substitutions in the 66th minute, but Empoli created a good chance when Alberto Grassi’s give-and-go with Pietro Pellegri forced Mattia Perin into a save.
Pellegri also risked more than just a yellow card by lightly headbutting Gatti as they went face-to-face contesting the ball, while Maleh’s fierce finish went wide of the far post.
It was Empoli who threatened to take the lead in stoppage time, Gatti throwing himself into the path of Gyasi at the near post from a Pellegri pass.
Empoli 0-0 Juventus
23
34
3
21
2
5
77 ‘
6
90 ‘
93
11
29
63 ‘
99
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1
27
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15
26
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66 ‘
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67 ‘
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98
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35
90
9
63 ‘
19
77 ‘
77 ‘
32
90 ‘
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16
23
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32
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37
17
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66 ‘
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67 ‘
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51
67 ‘
