Serie A | Sassuolo 3-2 Juventus: Adzic seals thrilling battle after Zhegrova double

Juventus capitulated 3-2 to Sassuolo with the last kick of the game scored by Vasilije Adzic, after Edon Zhegrova’s brace had twice clawed them back into it.

The Bianconeri’s injury crisis kept getting worse, losing Manuel Locatelli for four to six months with meniscus surgery, also missing Jeremie Boga, Weston McKennie, Andrea Cambiaso, Kenan Yildiz, Khephren Thuram, Jeff Ekhator and Juan Cabal. It gave Teun Koopmeiners a rare start with a more central role for Nico Gonzalez. For the first time in history, Juve didn’t start a single outfield Italian player in Serie A.

The hosts also missed Cristian Volpato, Fali Candé, Daniel Boloca, Edoardo Pieragnolo and Ismael Koné, with Kieron Bowie only fit for the bench after a knock in the 2-2 draw at Bologna, so Sebastiano Esposito got his first start.

It was a lightning start for Nico Gonzalez, whose strike from the edge of the area clipped the top of the crossbar in the second minute.

Nobody was ready to tap in from six yards when Kerim Alajbegovic rolled across following a cheeky stepover, while Guglielmo Vicario rushed off his line to stop Domenico Berardi completing the give and go with Esposito’s dinked return pass.

Koopmeiners aimed a weak finish straight at the goalkeeper after good work from Francisco Conceicao, while Josh Doig hit the side-netting when he waited too long to make the pass to Berardi.

Conceicao had a couple of dangerous runs, a deflected pull-back flashing across the face of goal and curler testing Arijanet Muric.

Lloyd Kelly replaced Jhon Lucumi as a tactical decision at half-time, but straight after the restart Alajbegovic saw his deflected curler palmed round the far post by Muric, with Berardi having the same experience against Vicario.

Nick Woltemade came on for a double striker system, and Alajbegovic again stung Muric’s gloves at the top corner, but Sassuolo took the lead when Pierre Kalulu hung back and allowed Esposito to spring the offside trap on an inspired Nemanja Matic pass, beating Vicario with the angled drive from 10 yards.

Douglas Luiz saw his strike palmed round the post by Muric, and Pape Matar Sarr made his debut after the deadline day move from Tottenham Hotspur, while Vasilije Adzic faced his parent club.

Simone Cinquegrano had the ball in the net too, but both he and Adzic on the assist were visibly offside on 74 minutes.

Josh Doig charged down an Edon Zhegrova attempt, but it was just a warning. Muric flapped aimlessly at the cross under pressure from Kolo Muani, so Zhegrova took a touch to cut inside and make sure he swept the finish on target from 12 yards. Remarkably, it was his first goal in an official match since November 2024.

Muric made a desperate save on Alajbegovic from a tight angle, with Woltemade nodding a free header wide of the back post on the resulting corner.

It proved a costly error, because Sassuolo restored their lead moments later. It was a moment of magic from Darryl Bakola, who drew Bremer in only to flick it past him to run into space, roll across where Bowie was ready to sweep in first-time from just inside the area with the inside of the left boot.

However, Zhegrova struck again with a left-foot scorcher kept low through a sea of legs from the edge of the box to complete his brace.

The game still had one more epic twist in the tail. On the counter-attack, Douglas Luiz was too weak when faced one-on-one by Adzic, and the Juve-owned youth player bent the right-foot curler into the far corner from 12 yards to give Sassuolo all three points with the last kick of the game.

Sassuolo 3-2 Juventus

S Esposito 54 (S), Zhegrova 82, 91 (J), Bowie 89 (S), Adzic 94 (S)

13-09-2026 19:45

MatchDay 4

Player statistic

1st half

2nd half

Sassuolo

Juventus

Starting lineups

49 Arijanet Muric Goalkeeper

16 Fedde Leysen Defender

21 Jay Idzes Defender 81'

3 Josh Doig Defender

46 Simone Cinquegrano Defender

42 Kristian Thorstvedt Midfielder 71'

35 Luca Lipani Midfielder 55'

18 Nemanja Matic Midfielder

45 Armand Lauriente Attacker

10 Domenico Berardi Attacker 71'

94 Sebastiano Esposito Attacker 70'

25 Guglielmo Vicario Goalkeeper

3 Bremer Defender

26 Jhon Lucumí Defender 46'

15 Pierre Kalulu Defender

2 Zeki Celik Defender

12 Douglas Luiz Midfielder

8 Teun Koopmeiners Midfielder 71'

7 Francisco Conceição Attacker 60'

17 Kerim Alajbegović Attacker 87'

31 Nico González Attacker 60'

9 Randal Kolo Muani Attacker

Substitutes

80 Stefano Turati Goalkeeper

8 Andrea Ghion Defender

77 Nicholas Pierini Attacker

20 Ignace Van Der Brempt Defender

55 Ibrahim Sulemana Midfielder

26 Cas Odenthal Defender

19 Laurs Skjellerup Attacker

33 Rafa Obrador Defender

22 Lorenzo Nyarko Goalkeeper

50 Darryl Bakola Midfielder 55'

25 Benja Domínguez Attacker 70'

17 Vasilije Adžić Midfielder 71'

9 Kieron Bowie Attacker 71'

15 Duje Caleta-Car Defender 81'

23 Carlo Pinsoglio Goalkeeper

24 Daniele Rugani Defender

4 Federico Gatti Defender

1 Kamil Grabara Goalkeeper

41 Augusto Owusu Midfielder

43 Filippo Pagnucco Midfielder

6 Lloyd Kelly Defender 46'

11 Edon Zhegrova Attacker 60'

27 Nick Woltemade Attacker 60'

29 Pape Matar Sarr Midfielder 71'

45 Justin Oke Oboavwoduo Attacker 87'