Soccer Football - Serie A - Juventus v Venezia - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - December 14, 2024 Juventus' Dusan Vlahovic scores their second goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Massimo Pinca
TURIN, Italy (Reuters) -Juventus salvaged a 2-2 draw at home to struggling Venezia after Dusan Vlahovic converted a last-second penalty in Saturday's Serie A match, extending their run of draws this season.
With the hosts heading towards their first league loss of the campaign, they got lucky when the ball struck Venezia defender Antonio Candela's arm in the final moments, allowing Vlahovic to score from the penalty spot.
With their 10th draw and fourth in a row this term, Juve are now sixth with 28 points, nine points behind leaders Atalanta. Venezia remain at the bottom with 10 points.
Despite staying undefeated in Serie A this season, Juve's record of only six wins from 16 matches was last seen from the Turin side in 1998-99. They remain with Paris Saint-Germain the only unbeaten teams in the top five European leagues.
Federico Gatti broke the deadlock for Juve after 19 minutes when a corner was flicked on towards the far post where he was left unmarked and tapped in.
At the start of the second half, Juve thought they had doubled their lead when Kenan Yildiz put the ball in the net, but the goal was disallowed after it was ruled he had nodded it into his own arm beforehand.
Despite Juve's dominance, Venezia equalised just after the hour mark when Mikael Egill Ellertsson headed home.
Venezia shocked the home fans at the Allianz Stadium seven minutes from time when Jay Idzes headed them in front after a free-kick was whipped into the box before Vlahovic saved Juve.
FRUSTRATED FANS
The Juve fans were visibly unhappy after the match, with whistling and chants heard as soon as the final whistle blew. Juve captain Danilo led his side to the stands to listen.
"There are dynamics that must always be respected here at Juventus. When you win and when you lose, you always have to go and greet the fans," he told Sky Sport Italia.
"At the end of the game we're all warm, if you make a mistake you apologise but always with respect both on our part and that of our fans."
Venezia coach Eusebio Di Francesco acknowledged his side was responsible for losing two points in the final moments.
"I believe these are two points dropped; we lacked cunning and should have managed the ball better on the corner that led to the penalty incident," he said.
"I'm sorry because a game like this is one we should have won, and we deserved it based on what we showed.
"But we ended up drawing and it's entirely our fault."
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris)
