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Juventus held by lowly Lecce as David fluffs panenka

Canada's Jonathan David had an 89th minute penalty saved on Saturday as Juventus missed the chance to put pressure on Serie A leaders AC Milan after a 1-1 draw with Lecce.

Luciano Spalletti's resurgent Juve had to settle for a point after striker David's spot-kick went horribly wrong.

Lecce goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone read David's chip down the middle and parried the ball to safety with an outstretched arm.

"He is one of our penalty-takers, he takes them well, he showed that he has character to shoot down the middle and he did what he had to do," Spalletti said in defence of his forward.

David's error meant that the record 36-time Italian champions trail Milan by five points having played a game more.

But they moved up a place to fourth on goal difference after Giorgio Scalvini's strike gave Atalanta a 1-0 victory over Roma, who dropped to fifth.

Lameck Banda put Lecce ahead on the stroke of half-time, firing into the top corner before Juve levelled through Weston McKennie shortly after the restart.

The hosts were on a run of three straight Serie A wins and seven wins in their last eight games in all competitions.

Milan won 1-0 at Cagliari on Friday but Inter Milan can leapfrog their city rivals with a win over Bologna on Sunday.

jr/dmc/iwd/bc

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