Juventus were tested at newly-promoted Pisa on Saturday night, but bagged maximum points courtesy of an second half own goal from Arturo Calabresi and an added time strike from much-wanted Kenan Yildiz.
With Pisa having only scored once inside their Stadio Arena Garibaldi - Romeo Anconetani all season, beating Cremonese 1-0 in early November, Juve manager Luciano Spalletti set up his troops to constantly attack throughout the first half.
The visitors dominated play and possession, but lacked the presence of a traditional center forward like injured star Dusan Vlahovic. Unorthodox striker Lois Openda was given the nod to spearhead the attack, with Yildiz and Teun Koopmeiners sitting behind him on the wings.
It took until the 21st minute before either shotstopper was troubled, and even then Openda's tame attempt rolled into the arms of Pisa keeper Adrian Semper.
After half-an-hour of fruitless waves of attacks, with the well-drilled home defense equal to everything thrown at them, Pisa moved through the gears to take control until the half-time whistle.
Idrissa Toure's 33rd-minute header narrowly missed the target and on the stroke of half-time Stefano Moore's headed attempt was denied by the crossbar with Juve keeper Michele Di Gregorio stranded.
Gilardino gets better of Spalletti
Juve had been outwitted over the initial 45 minutes by the tactical approach of Pisa head coach Alberto Gilardino, a former striker who has managed to frustrate numerous Serie A sides this campaign.
Pisa turned on the style immediately after the turnaround, leaving Juventus shell shocked by their bravado. On the hour mark Matteo Tramoni's headed effort from the center of the box was denied by the right post, and only a few seconds later Spalletti altered his set up following this scare.
After Bianconeri skipper Manuel Locatelli was deservedly shown a yellow card for an unnecessary foul, Spalletti wisely withdrew the midfield maestro as part of a double substitution.
Edon Zhegrova replaced the Italian international and goal poacher Jonathan David came on for the unimpressive Openda, who had managed just one lame shot and produced only 10 passes.
Kelly denied by woodwork
Lloyd Kelly, who has been in pretty spectacular form ever since Spalletti replaced Igor Tudor in late October, hit the left post on 65 minutes that kickstarted a Juventus revival.
A melee in the Pisa goalmouth resulted in an unfortunate heeled goal from Calabresi, who was eagerly attempting to deny the danger in the box, for the breakthrough strike on 72 minutes.
Zhegrova, heavily criticized by Spalletti for allowing AS Roma to score against the Bianconeri, finally showed his silky skills in a Juve shirt and forced Semper to make his first proper save of the evening five minutes after the opening goal.
The deadline day signing was determined to find the back of the net, in order to show his worth to Spalletti. He followed up his initial attempt by testing Semper with a long-range shot.
With six minutes remaining, 17-year-old winger Louis Buffon appeared as a substitute for the industrious Calabresi. The teenager, a youth international for the Czech Republic, is the son of Juve's legendary keeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Subdued Yildiz makes late mark
Pisa upped their game in a bid to find the equalizer, but the draw specialists this campaign were undone in the second minute of added time when Yildiz tucked home the ball from close range. Late substitute Fabio Miretti did all the hard work, with a strong run and unselfish pass that found David and then Yildiz.
The Turkish talent, who had been largely man-marked out of the contest did not celebrate his strike as there was a VAR review. The 20-year-old was replaced by Joao Mario before the goal was given.
Three points for Spalletti's seventh win in eight games lifted Juventus to within a single point of table-topping Inter Milan, who only sit above AC Milan because of superior goal difference. However, the two Milan sides and fourth-placed Napoli all have two games in hand over the Bianconeri and play tomorrow.
While fifth-placed Roma host lowly Genoa on Monday, Should all four teams in the mix for Scudetto register victory in their next outing, it will leave Juventus back in fifth spot.
Spalletti senses Juve problems
Spalletti , who has turned Juventus into serial winners, admitted to Sky Sport Italia after the final whistle: “Our tempo was slow ... Pisa caused problems with their intensity.. We ought to do better and we need to do better.
"In that period at the end of the first and start of the second, we did struggle to deal with Pisa’s physicality.
“In the second half, we had more quality, were more inventive, [Edon] Zhegrova and [Jonathan] David did well, giving us more quality in the final third.
"We were able to score and at that moment of the game I felt it was deserved, as we were creating spaces in the box.
"Our problem is that we are a strong team, but we’ve got to prove it every time we step onto the pitch, and we were below par in too many ways during the first half.”
JUVENTUS: Di Gregorio - Kelly, Bremer, Kalulu - McKennie, Thuram, Locatelli (Zhegrova, 60), Cambiaso (Kostic, 86) - Yildiz (Mario, 90), Koopmeiners (Miretti, 86) - Openda (David, 60). Subs: Perin, Milik, Adzic, Rouhi, Scaglia, Felipe