Serie A | Pisa 0-2 Juventus: Kalulu and Kenan Yildiz prove clinical

Pisa were unlucky when hitting the woodwork twice before Juventus scored late on with Pierre Kalulu and Kenan Yildiz tap-ins to secure a 2-0 victory.

The Bianconeri were brimming with confidence after six wins in their last seven competitive games, including back-to-back success over Bologna and Roma. Francisco Conceicao joined Juan Cabal, Federico Gatti, Daniele Rugani and Dusan Vlahovic on the treatment table, but Teun Koopmeiners returned from suspension and moved back into midfield. Pisa managed just one win all season and had Ebeneezer Akinsanmiro and M’Bala Nzola at AFCON, with Calvin Stengs and former Juventus winger Juan Cuadrado injured. This was their first Serie A meeting since 1991.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Adrian Semper stuck out a boot to push Weston McKennie’s effort onto the side-netting, while Kenan Yildiz’s right-foot curler flashed just past the far top corner and Antonio Caracciolo sprinted back to deflect the Koopmeiners counter-attack wide after Isak Vural slipped.

Matteo Tramoni came sliding in just unable to connect with the Idrissa Toure ball flashed across the face of goal, but Pisa came so close to scoring on the stroke of half-time when a corner was taken short and Michel Aebischer’s cross found Stefano Moreo, his header bouncing off the crossbar.

After the restart, Samuele Angori’s flicked on free kick was deflected just wide of the far top corner, while Manuel Locatelli’s long-range strike was straight at Semper.

Pisa thumped the frame of the goal for a second time on the hour mark, Tramoni’s header hitting the base of the near post on a Mehdi Leris cross from the right.

Juventus also rattled the woodwork, as Lloyd Kelly’s angled drive hit the near stick from 10 yards.

The Bianconeri started to swarm with the introduction of Edon Zhegrova, and he was part of the move to open the scoring. They spread it down the left with a McKennie roll across as Arturo Calabresi came sliding in to block from five yards, but it took another ricochet off Pierre Kalulu to bounce into the net.

Semper pushed another Zhegrova first-time strike out from under the bar, while Pisa introduced Louis Thomas Buffon, the son of Juventus legend Gigi.

Juventus doubled their lead in stoppages when Fabio Miretti went on a mazy run, his finish was deflected off Jonathan David into the path of Kenan Yildiz to tap in at the back post from point-blank range.

Pisa 0-2 Juventus

Kalulu 73 (J), Yildiz 92 (J)