Juventus' Nicolo Fagioli celebrates his goal during a Serie A football match between Juventus and Lecce in Lecce, Italy on Oct. 29, 2022. (Photo by Federico Tardito/Xinhua)
Juventus rebounded from the Champions League elimination with a 1-0 win at Lecce for their third straight victory in Serie A.
ROME, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Juventus picked up the pieces on Saturday after their Champions League elimination as they defeated Lecce 1-0 away, thanks to Nicolo Fagioli's goal in Serie A.
Juve suffered an early exit in the group stage of the Champions League in midweek, the first time since the 2013-2014 season.
The Old Lady needed a boost but an injury crisis was taking its toll on the powerhouse as they had to do without Dusan Vlahovic, Gleison Bremer, Manuel Locatelli, Angel Di Maria, Leandro Paredes, let alone long-time absentees Paul Pogba and Federico Chiesa, so Matias Soule and Fabio Miretti stepped into the starting line-up.
The game started with the referee dishing out four yellow cards to Juve within 30 minutes, while Weston McKennie's penalty appeal was waved play on.
Despite an absolute domination, Juve failed to unlock Lecce's defense until an unexpected hero came to the rescue in the 72nd minute when Samuel Iling-Junior laid it off for Fagioli who span around to finish with a stunning curler.
With the hard-fought win, Juve provisionally climbed to the sixth place with 22 points.
Also on Saturday, Inter Milan continued their winning streak as they registered a comfortable 3-0 home victory against Sampdoria coached by ex Inter legend Dejan Stankovic.
Stefan de Vrij and Nicolo Barella's strikes put the Nerazzurri firmly in charge at half-time, Joaquin Correa's solo run sealed the game after the break.
Elsewhere, Napoli kept the fearsome form as they maintained the leading position after a 4-0 drubbing over Sassuolo, with Victor Osimhen completing a hat-trick.
