Juventus rally late to beat Celta Vigo and stay perfect in Europa League
Nick Woltemade's equaliser and a stoppage-time Randal Kolo Muani header turned Juventus's sluggish display at Celta Vigo into a 2-1 win that keeps them top of the Europa League table.
Juventus came from behind to beat Celta Vigo 2-1 at Estadio Balaídos, with Randal Kolo Muani heading home in the second minute of stoppage time to complete the turnaround, according to Football Italia.
The result kept Luciano Spalletti's side top of the Europa League table after their 5-0 win over NEC in the opening round, even as their domestic form stalled with a 1-1 draw at Cagliari in Serie A.
Juventus travelled to Spain with a lengthy absentee list, missing Kenan Yildiz, Jeremie Boga, Khephren Thuram, Manuel Locatelli, Jeff Ekhator, Kamil Grabara and Arek Milik, per Football Italia.
Celta arrived off the back of an opening defeat to Omonia Nicosia and were without Borja Iglesias, Pablo Duran, Jones El-Abdellaoui, Carl Starfelt and Miguel Roman.
Celta's early breakthrough exposed a slow Juventus start
Willot Swedberg's header inside the opening minutes was comfortably held by Guglielmo Vicario, but Celta's next move was far more incisive, a right-to-left passing sequence finished when Swedberg laid the ball off for Hugo Alvarez to tap home at the back post in the 18th minute.
Juventus struggled to convert their share of possession into clear chances for long spells. Teun Koopmeiners headed straight at the goalkeeper and then failed to control a Pierre Kalulu pull-back from close range, while Nick Woltemade blazed over after allowing a long ball to bounce awkwardly in the box.
Francisco Conceicao twice went close either side of the interval, first seeing Radu push his effort over the bar and then firing the resulting corner straight at the Celta goalkeeper. The sequence underlined a first-half pattern in which Juventus generated volume without precision, while Celta's single clinical passage of play was enough to lead at the break.
Woltemade's leveller came from a Celta mistake, not a sustained siege
Juventus drew level in the 58th minute through a combination of good delivery and defensive carelessness. Koopmeiners's cross from the left was chested down poorly by Marcos Alonso, presenting Woltemade with an opportunity he swept into the net from 12 yards.
The goal did not settle the contest immediately. Celta looked dangerous in transition, with Rueda striking the side-netting after a slide-rule pass from Jutgla and Kalulu having to recover to block the winger moments later.
Pape Matar Sarr also failed to punish another sloppy Alonso clearance, and Nico Gonzalez created the game's clearest chance when he twisted past defenders inside the box before bending a left-footed finish narrowly wide. That miss, in a match ultimately decided by fine margins, stood as the moment Juventus might have won it long before stoppage time.
A single cross settled a tight finish
The winner arrived in the second minute of added time. Andrea Cambiaso whipped in a cross from the left and Kolo Muani, introduced from the bench, found space between two defenders to nod in from point-blank range.
The shape of the match statistics reflects a contest Juventus dominated territorially without translating it into clean chances until late on. They had 22 shots to Celta's nine and six on target to Celta's two, but also needed eight blocks compared with Celta's single block, a sign of how often their final ball or finish was snuffed out before it threatened Radu's goal.
Juventus's win also offered a pointed contrast with the clubs' only previous European meeting. Football Italia noted that the sides last met in the UEFA Cup round of 16 in March 2000, when Celta overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit with a 4-0 home victory, a match in which both Antonio Conte and Paolo Montero were sent off before half-time.
Juventus now sit top of the Europa League table after two rounds, their perfect record intact despite a squad still missing several first-team options. Celta, meanwhile, remain without a win in the competition after successive defeats to start the league phase.