Juventus defeated Catania 1-0 at Juventus Stadium in Serie A action Sunday afternoon.
The game featured tight defending from both teams and appeared to be destined to finish a scoreless draw, but Emanuele Giaccherini grabbed a last-gasp winner to snatch full points for the league leaders.
The first real chance of the match fell to the hosts, Mirko Vucinic beating his man with some slippery work and forcing Mariano Andujar to go full stretch to parry away his drive from 18 yards.
Francesco Lodi hit a dipping effort goalwards from miles out at the other end, but the ball swerved past the near post at the last moment to send the chance begging.
Leonardo Bonucci got in touch with his offensive side for the Bianconeri with a pair of drives from outside the box, but failed to find the target either time.
Claudio Marchisio used some neat footwork to elude his man and go in on goal, but was closed down by a crucial intervention, whilst Vucinic headed over the bar from a corner.
The Montenegrin soon threatened again, but was denied by the woodwork from close range after pouncing on a poor clearance in the area.
Catania tactician Rolando Maran received his marching orders on 36 minutes for dissent and left the touchline for the locker room.
After the halftime restart Paul Pogba looked to provide a spark with one of his trademark shots from distance, but couldn’t muster the required power.
Lucas Castro fired wide for Catania, whilst Marchisio failed to test Andujar after receiving the ball in a promising position.
Substitute Alessandro Matri headed over, each side struggling to create opportunities in a match dominated by defensive solidity.
Giaccherini cut inside and went down in the area to bring about penalty shouts from his teammates, but the diminutive Italian was instead booked for simulation.
A heroic moment was still on the cards for the Old Lady, however, as Giaccherini made amends in stoppages by grabbing the winner at close range after Andjar had come off his line to clear Pogba’s cross from the right flank.
Juventus nearly grabbed a second via Fabio Quagliarella moments later, but Andujar made a fantastic save to see the match go to full time at 1-0.
You can follow Ian Capasso on Twitter: @capasso10
