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United States international Weston McKennie registered two assists to give Juventus a much-needed 3-2 win over a brave Frosinone on Sunday, their first Serie A win in five games.
Juventus remain second on 57 points, six behind leaders Inter Milan who have two games in hand and play Lecce later on Sunday. Frosinone drop to 16th on 23 points, three above the relegation zone.
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Both sides came into the game without a win in four games, which had left Juventus struggling to keep pace with Inter in the title race and Frosinone dangerously close to the bottom three, and made for an entertaining first half.
Juventus opened the scoring in the third minute when McKennie beautifully controlled a long ball from Federico Gatti before playing a low cross from the right side of the area which Dusan Vlahovic met to give the home side the perfect start.
Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images
The home crowd were stunned into silence 11 minutes later when Nadir Sortea crossed from the right and with Juve’s defence standing like statues, Walid Cheddira rose to head past Wojciech Szczesny.
Frosinone clearly did not come to the Juventus Stadium to sit back and defend, and in the 27th minute their positive play was rewarded again when they took the lead.
Abdou Harroui cut in from the left wing, spotted the run of Marco Brescianini and played the perfect through ball. Brescianini took a couple of touches taking him into the area and held off Rugani to get his shot away into the top corner.
Five minutes later and Vlahovic had a great chance to level when Federico Chiesa flicked a pass which left the striker in front of goal but his heavy first touch allowed the keeper to block his effort.
Frosinone failed to clear the ball and when Andrea Cambiaso‘s pass found McKennie, his first time ball found Vlahovic who controlled before turning and curling his shot into the bottom corner.
The intensity dropped after the break with Juventus looking the more likely to take the lead without creating any clear-cut chances and Frosinone looking happy to take a point, with their keeper booked for time wasting after 70 minutes.
The plan almost worked, but deep into added time Vlahovic headed on a corner to the back post which found Rugani who, from a tight angle, fired his shot through the legs of the keeper to the relief of the home fans and despair of Frosinone.