Juventus wasted two points today at home against Empoli, in the 22nd round of the Italian Football League, by drawing 1-1, and risks losing the lead to Inter Milan, on Sunday.
The ‘vecchia signora’ did not know how to deal with the premature expulsion of their striker Arkadiusz Milik, after 16 minutes, for a harsh tackle on an opponent that earned him a yellow card, which would be replaced by the red one after the referee was alerted by the video referee to review the play on the monitor.
He immediately assumed a defensive posture, giving Empoli the initiative, but managed to take the lead in the 50th minute, through Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic, an advantage that he was unable to maintain, suffering the equalizer, in the 70th, when midfielder Tommaso Baldanzi made it 1-1.
With the loss of these two points at home, ‘Juve’ runs the risk of losing the lead to Inter Milan on Sunday, if the Milanese win in the difficult trip to Artemio Franchi, to face Fiorentina.
Hours earlier, Atalanta resolved the obstacle called Udinese, with Portuguese defender João Ferreira in the ‘eleven’, in the first half, with goals from Russian midfielder Aleksey Miranchuk and striker Gianluca Scamacca, at 33 and 45+1 minutes, respectively.
Juventus still leads Serie A with 53 points (22 games), followed by Inter Milan, with 51, but two fewer games. AC Milan is third, with 45 (21), ahead of Atalanta, fourth with 36 (21), and Fiorentina, in fifth place, with 34 (20).
The AC Milan-Bologna match takes place today, with the Rossoneri having the opportunity to shorten the delay to Juventus and put pressure on the top two.