Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 10:38 PM• Dominic Mostert • Last update: 22:42

Juventus has at least temporarily taken over the third place in the Serie A from Atalanta. The troubled team of trainer Andrea Pirlo won 3-1 against number nineteen Parma, partly due to an assist and the first goal of the season from Matthijs de Ligt. At the same time, leader Internazionale lost points in the away match against Spezia: 1-1. Inter is still ten points ahead of number two AC Milan, who lost 1-2 to Sassuolo earlier on Wednesday evening. Juventus has one point more than Atalanta, which still has a duel credit.

Juventus – Parma 3-1
De Ligt was of great value for the first time when Juventus came to 1-1 two minutes before the break. The defender headed the ball back to Alex Sandro after a turning corner from Juan Cuadrado. The ball from De Ligt allowed Sandro to take the ball and take it from close range in a vicious way. Parma had taken the lead in minute 25 from a special free kick by Gastón Brugman. The Uruguayan started from 21 meters and took the ball on the instep. His bet flew over the wall because Cristiano Ronaldo was the only one standing: the attacker shielded his face and looked down as the ball flew over him in the left corner. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was transfixed.

Ronaldo was close to a goal in the ninth minute when he bumped into goalkeeper Simone Colombi, but apart from the goal, Juventus managed to create little in the first half. The home team did have the upper hand, but had to wait until the second half for the lead. Again it was Alex Sandro who pulled the trigger. The left back received the ball in the penalty area when Paulo Dybala passed under a cross from Cuadrado, and headed from close range. Juventus then got away well when Arthur took the ball off the line after a headbutt from Yordan Osorio.

A few minutes after that opportunity, Juventus took over the game. Once again Cuadrado was at the base of the goal. After a turning corner from the Colombian, De Ligt walked towards the first post and nodded convincingly. It was De Ligt’s first goal of the season in an official match; last season he produced four more hits. Juventus recovered by winning the 1-0 defeat against Atalanta three days ago. La Vecchia Signora passes the competitor in the rankings, but Atalanta will visit AS Roma on Thursday.

Spezia – Inter Milan 1-1
Conte’s team had more than sixty percent possession of the ball in the Stadio Alberto Picco in the first half, but the visit almost went into half time behind. It was Spezia, where Jeroen Zoet was on the bench again, who only needed twelve minutes to take the lead. Diego Farias walked away from Achraf Hakimi and saw his shot from the edge of the penalty area into the goal, partly because Samir Handanovic was not completely free: 1-0. A good shot from Nicolò Barella, just wide, heralded the 1-1 in the 39th minute. After a pass by Hakimi from the right side of the penalty area, Ivan Perisic worked the ball into the goal mouth against the ropes.

Ivan Perisic! ?? Five minutes before half time, the Croat puts his team next to Spezia again ????#ZiggoSport #SerieA #SpeziaInter pic.twitter.com/KoY945kge0

– Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) April 21, 2021

Spezia escaped the 1-2 a few minutes after the break when a bet by Lautaro Martínez hit the post after a save by Ivan Provedel and then into the hands of the goalkeeper. After the break it was only one-way traffic from Inter, with Stefan de Vrij in the base, towards Spezia’s goal, which only once came close to the enemy target area. A bet by Ivan Perisic ended in the side net and Romelu Lukaku failed to score, face to face with Provedel. The goalkeeper turned the Belgian’s first bet, who also did not get the ball in the rebound. The pressure from Inter was also immense in the final phase. Milan Skriniar headed straight into the hands of Provedel, Lukaku hit the post and goals from Lukaku and Martínez were rejected by the arbitration.