Juan Cabal came off the bench to earn Juventus a narrow 1-0 win over 10-man Bologna at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara on Sunday.
Match Report
Juventus knew a win would lift them above their opponents into fifth in the Serie A table, and they were helped by a late red card for Torbjorn Heggem.
Michele Di Gregorio made a stunning double save just five minutes in, pushing away Tommaso Pobega's effort before getting back up to smother Riccardo Orsolini's tight-angled shot.
Juventus then had a 36th-minute goal disallowed for offside. Federico Ravaglia rushed out of his box, but misjudged the bounce under pressure from Weston McKennie, who squared it into Jonathan David in front of an empty net, but he had set off too early before slotting in.
Nadir Zortea also could have broken the deadlock on the stroke of half-time, but his rifled shot from the right of the box rattled Di Gregorio's crossbar.
Substitute Cabal took just over three minutes to make his impact. He rose high to meet Kenan Yildiz's whipped cross and thumped his header past Ravaglia 64 minutes in.
Bologna's hopes of a comeback seemingly ended five minutes later as Heggem pulled back Lois Openda in a desperate last-man challenge, resulting in a straight red card.
Despite having a player advantage, Juve created few chances to double their advantage, though Openda had the best, with his low first-time curler excellently kept out by Ravaglia before he blazed a one-on-one chance over in the closing minutes.
Data Debrief: Juventus earn away-day joy
Coming into this game, Juventus had lost three of their last five Serie A away matches (W1 D1), but not only did they leave Bologna with three points, they also kept a precious clean sheet.
It was far from a vintage performance, however, as Luciano Spalletti's side had just three of their 13 shots on target, with Bologna boasting more (four). Juventus had the higher expected goals (xG) tally of 1.65 to 0.65 for Bologna.
Among the players who have been directly involved in 20+ goals in the last two seasons in the big five European leagues, only Lamine Yamal (35, 2007) is younger than Yildiz: 20, (12 goals, eight assists).
Bologna have now gone 23 Serie A home matches without a win against Juventus (D8 L15), a run that stretches back to November 1998.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
5' Match Event for Bologna vs Juventus
10' Highlight from Bologna vs Juventus
20' Highlight from Bologna vs Juventus
34' Highlight from Bologna vs Juventus
35' Match Event for Bologna vs Juventus
38' Match Event for Bologna vs Juventus
45' Match Event for Bologna vs Juventus
62' Highlight from Bologna vs Juventus
65' GOAL! Bologna 0-1 Juventus
71' Red Card! Heggem Sent Off
77' Highlight from Bologna vs Juventus
81' Match Event for Bologna vs Juventus
89' Match Event for Bologna vs Juventus
Line-ups
Bologna XI: Nikola Moro, Jhon Lucumí, Orsolini, Tommaso Pobega, Federico Ravaglia, Juan Miranda, Thijs Dallinga, Lewis Ferguson, Torbjørn Heggem, Nicolò Cambiaghi, Nadir Zortea
Subs: De Silvestri, Immobile, Charalampos Lykogiannis, Bernardeschi, Jens Odgaard, Emil Holm, Giovanni Fabbian, Jonathan Rowe, Santiago Castro, Ibrahim Sulemana, Benja Domínguez, Massimo Pessina, Petar Markovic, Matteo Franceschelli
Juventus XI: Locatelli, Koopmeiners, Di Gregorio, Lloyd Kelly, McKennie, Jonathan David, Khéphren Thuram, Francisco Conceição, Kalulu, Andrea Cambiaso, Yıldız
Subs: Perin, Kostic, Rugani, Openda, Gleison, Edon Zhegrova, João Mário, Cabal, Fabio Miretti, Simone Scaglia, Rouhi, Adzic