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.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

REGGIO NELL’EMILIA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 13: Alberto Aquilani Head Coach of US Sassuolo looks on during the Serie A match between US Sassuolo and Juventus at Mapei Stadium – Citta’ del Tricolore on September 13, 2026 in Reggio nell’Emilia, Italy. (Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)

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.

REGGIO NELL’EMILIA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 13: Juan Luca Sacchi referee of the match shows a yellow card to Jhon Lucumi of Juventus during the Serie A match between US Sassuolo and Juventus at Mapei Stadium – Citta’ del Tricolore on September 13, 2026 in Reggio nell’Emilia, Italy. (Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)

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.

REGGIO NELL’EMILIA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 13: Douglas Luiz of Juventus in action during the Serie A match between US Sassuolo and Juventus at Mapei Stadium – Citta’ del Tricolore on September 13, 2026 in Reggio nell’Emilia, Italy. (Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)

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.

REGGIO NELL’EMILIA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 13: Kerim Alajbegovic of Juventus in action during the Serie A match between US Sassuolo and Juventus at Mapei Stadium – Citta’ del Tricolore on September 13, 2026 in Reggio nell’Emilia, Italy. (Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)

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, surprising Muric at the near post.

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.

Incredibly, it was a year to the day since he scored his first goal for Juve, in a last-gasp 4-3 win over Inter.

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