Juventus 1-1 Chievo: Drame strike cancels out De Ceglie opener as Conte's men are held

Despite a strong start by Juve it was the visiting side which threatened first, Paolo Sammarco forcing Gianluigi Buffon into a an early save with a strong header.

However, it was soon back to one way traffic for the home side, and the team's pressure was rewarded with the opener after 18 minutes. Andrea Pirlo's free kick took a flick off Giorgio Chiellini and bounced off the post into the path of De Ceglie, who made no mistake from a few yards out.

The match was flowing from end to end, with Chievo showing some encouraging signs on the counterattack. Juventus always looked the stronger though, with Emanuele Giaccherini at the center of things in the attacking third.

The attacking midfielder first teed up Simone Padoin for a long range drive that was tipped away at full stretch by Stefano Sorrentino, before scuffing a volley of his own just wide after a delightful long ball by Leonardo Bonucci.

At the other end of the pitch, Sammarco sent a volley just over the bar as Chievo fired a warning shot heading into the interval.

Nine minutes after the restart, Buffon was called into action once more to parry Francesco Acerby's long range free kick.

The home side fired back soon after, with Alessandro Matri teeing up Padoin at the top of the box for a shot that was just touched wide by the outstretched leg of Sorrentino.

The game was by no means won, and Chievo went close again after a header by substitute Davide Moscardelli was planted just wide of the Buffon's far post.

Moscardelli would make a far more decisive contribution in the 76th minute, cutting the ball back towards Drame, whose low drive beat Buffon and deflected off Bonucci en route to the back of the net.

Juventus turned up the pressure as the game neared its end, and nearly snatched a winner with a long range strike by Pirlo in injury time, but Sorrentino did excellently to tip it wide and send his side home with a well earned point.

The result sees Juventus remain three points behind Milan at the Serie A summit, though the team still holds a game in hand. Chievo meanwhile moves to ninth place with 34 points.

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