Lecce 1 - 4 Juventus
Inzaghi 12', Trezeguet 28', Giorgetti 70', Kovacevic 86', Zambrotta 90'

Sunday 17 Dec 2000

Filippo Inzaghi has certainly proved a point at Lecce where he claimed one goal and made another - justifying Carlo Ancelotti's selection of a two-man strike force. The one doubt ahead of the game was whether the Bianconeri were to line-up with a single striker, David Trezeguet, or two, namely the Juve number 9 alongside the Frenchman. In the event the manager went for the more adventurous option, with Zinedine Zidane as inspirer slotting in just behind. The game began with the home team pressing forward, and they went close twice after Tonetto crossed in for Piangarelli who headed over from close range and then Giorgetti fired in - straight at Edwin van der Sar.

It only took Inzaghi 12 minutes to get the visitors off the starting blocks, when he got on the end of Zizou's pin-point cross from the left to knock it in past a blameless Chimenti.

Within three minutes Filippo's strike partner should have doubled Juve's advantage, but his shot was straight down the keeper's throat.

The Euro 2000 golden-goal scorer finally got on the score sheet at his second time of asking, with Pessotto this time turning provider - his cross floated in for Trezeguet to head home.

With Juve establishing a solid lead, Lecce pushed forward with greater determination, and in the 31st minute they nearly pulled a goal back when Conticchio drilled a ball in and the Dutch keeper was forced to simply palm the ball out for a corner. The remaining quarter of an hour of the half was marked by one crucial incident, the 39th minute sending off of Balleri for a bad challenge.

Juve found themselves 2-0 up and with an extra man at the end of the half. Ancelotti surely couldn't have had an easier half-time team talk, with complacency in the second half being the only possible enemy.

The second half saw Juve comfortably control the game, and even went close to extending the advantage through that man Inzaghi again. Alessio Tacchinardi put on a great ball for the industrious forward, who looked to have made the angles too tight to shoot, but found that his effort was only kept out by Savino who blocked on the line.

Finally, after 25 minutes of the re-start, the 10-men of Lecce managed to fashion an opening for Giorgetti whose blistering shot from wide on the left managed to beat Van der Sar. 2-1.

Within 10 minutes Ancelotti elected to bring on some fresh legs to make the man advantage count further. It proved to be an inspired substitution. Darko Kovacevic came on in place of Trezeguet and restored Juve's two goal advantage within six minutes of his entrance, making the most of a good ball in from Edgar Davids. 3-1

Ancelotti had not finished with his inspired selections. Inzaghi came off to rapturous applause from the travelling fans to make way for Gianluca Zambrotta with only five minutes to go in the half. It took exactly five minutes for the pacey winger to make it four for the visitors and bury Lecce.

After Lecce were reduced to 10 men, the writing had been on the wall for the home team. But the spirited southern club refused to lie down and that they scored a goal when 2-0 and a player down is a great credit to them. Nevertheless, the Bianconeri are clearly back in business now after a difficult start to the season. Roma have been warned. They now know what they have to do in the Rome derby Sunday evening if they are to keep at a safe distance from the sprightly Old Lady of Serie A.

Yellow Cards:
Lecce - Conticchio 24', Tonetto 76'
Juventus - Tudor 48'

Red Cards:
Lecce - Balleri 39'

Lecce (3-5-2): Chimenti; Juarez, Viali, Savino; Balleri, Giorgetti, Piangerelli, Bedin (46' Malusci), Tonetto (80' Konan); Conticchio Vugrinec (59' Osorio)
Subs - Malusci, Konan, Osorio, Manitta, Mateo, Fissore, Testa

Juventus (4-3-1-2):Van der Sar; Paramatti, Ferrara, Tudor, Pessotto; Conte, Tacchinardi, Davids (88' Bachini); Zidane; Inzaghi (85' Zambrotta), Trezeguet (80' Kovacevic)
Subs - Bachini, Zambrotta, Kovacevic, Rampulla, Zanchi, Brighi, Fonseca

Referee: Racalbuto

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