Spalletti advised to sub David off moments before quick-fire Juventus goal and assist

Jonathan David provided an assist and then broke his 16-game Serie A drought against Sassuolo on Tuesday evening, and TV audio shows that Juventus had considered substituting the Canadian off a few moments before he made it 3-0. 

Juventus were handed a first-half lead against Sassuolo thanks to an unfortunate Tarik Muharemovic own-goal. Fabio Miretti made it 2-0 midway through the second half after some strong centre-forward play from David. The Canadian then found the back of the net himself a few moments later after a big mistake at the back from Jay Idzes. 

You can see how the action from all of Tuesday’s Serie A matches unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.

The Juventus dugout emptied when David’s individual effort hit the back of the net. The Canadian had not scored in Serie A since the opening weekend of the 2025-26 season before Tuesday night. 

Even head coach Luciano Spalletti was involved in the on-pitch celebrations as the Old Lady gave their centre-forward a massive show of support. 

It might have been a moment of relief for Spalletti as well, as pitchside microphones caught the Juve head coach in discussion with his assistant Marco Domenichini over a potential substitution just a few moments before. 

“Shall we bring on Openda for David,” Domenichini was heard asking Spalletti (via TMW). 

This discussion took place just a few moments before David provided an excellent assist for Miretti, which came less than two minutes before the Canadian scored one for himself.