Alvaro Morata Scores Against Spezia to Keep Juventus Ahead of Serie A Title Race.

Alvaro Morata scores his first league goal since December as the hosts keep the pressure on their Serie A title rivals.

Alvaro Morata’s first-half goal was enough for fourth-placed Juventus to win 1-0 at home to Spezia in Serie A on Sunday, closing the gap on leaders Inter Milan to five points.

The hosts seized the lead after 21 minutes when midfielder Arthur Melo latched on to a bad clearing from Spezia goalkeeper Ivan Provedel, picking out Manuel Locatelli on the edge of the box before feeding Morata, who tallied his first league goal since December.

After the break, Wojciech Szczesny stopped Emmanuel Gyasi and Kevin Agudelo from close range as Spezia looked for a way back into the game. Meanwhile, in stoppage time at the end of the game, Morata wasted a golden opportunity to seal the match, but Juventus hung on to win. Juve is now in fourth place in the Champions League, with 53 points, five points behind leaders Inter Milan and four points behind Napoli and AC Milan.