While Moise Kean has been in the headlines for unfortunate circumstances of late, his play on the field is the real story. That came to the forefront at Allianz Stadium in Turin on Saturday as his 83rd minute goal sent Juventus through in exciting fashion.
Juventus fell behind in the first half but fought back for a 2-1 win over AC Milan to put the Old Lady on the brink of yet another Scudetto.
Krzysztof Piatek buried a 39th minute strike to put AC Milan ahead after Tiemoue Bakayoko pilfered the ball off a poor Leonardo Bonucci pass in the Juventus third. That wouldn’t last, however, as Paulo Dybala won and scored a penalty on the hour mark, felled by a clumsy Mateo Musacchio challenge before burying the chance from the spot straight down Broadway.
With the score 1-1, the game was set up for an exciting finish. Miralem Pjanic snatched a bad Davide Calabria pass in the AC Milan third - almost in the same spot where Bakayoko snatched a bad pass in the first half - and fed Kean who buried the winner with his right foot. The 19-year-old had come on in the 66th minute to replace Dybala, his second time scoring a winner off the bench after his goal against Empoli a week ago gave Juventus a 1-0 win.
Kean’s goal is his fifth in five matches since joining the regular Juve lineup, in addition to goals in each of Italy’s two European qualifiers in late March. The 19-year-old is white hot, all while deal with racial abuse during Serie A away matches that have lit up the headlines.
The goal and victory sent Juventus an enormous 21 points above second-placed Napoli, with seven matches remaining. That puts their magic number at 3 points, meaning they need a combination of 3 points gained by Juventus or dropped by Napoli the rest of the way, which would secure Juve’s eighth straight Serie A title. Meanwhile, the loss for AC Milan is significant, as it opens the door for Atalanta to snatch the fourth and final Champions League spot when they travel to Inter. Atalanta sits a point back of AC Milan in fifth, while Roma is three back of Milan in sixth before beginning play at Sampdoria on Saturday.