A late drama at the U-Power Stadium saw Juventus snatch a last-gasp 2-1 win over Monza to lift themselves top of the Serie A table as they wait for Inter to take on Napoli on Sunday night. Federico Gatti was the unexpected hero of the day as he scored Juventus’ winner on 94 minutes, just a few seconds after Valentin Carboni had equalized Adrien Rabiot’s early opener for the Bianconeri.
Raffaele Palladino lined up his Monza side in a 3-4-2-1 fashion where Patrick Ciurria was deployed in the center forward position. Massimiliano Allegri answered with his usual 3-5-2 lineup featuring Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic upfront. Hans Nicolussi Caviglia collected his second cap as a starter in a row, while Alex Sandro reclaimed his spot in Allegri’s back three.
Juventus had a chance to open the scoring early on but Michele Di Gregorio confirmed once again to be one of the best up-and-coming goalkeepers in Italy as he denied Vlahovic from the spot. Giorgos Kyriakopoulos held Andrea Cambiaso in the box and the referee had no hesitation to allow a penalty. Di Gregorio pushed back Vlahovic’s shot and even his subsequent attempt to tap the ball in.
But Monza’s joy didn’t last long as the Bianconeri broke the deadlock from the subsequent corner kick. Nicolussi Caviglia served Rabiot in the middle of the box and the Frenchman beat Di Gregorio with a clinical header.
Juventus should have made it two on 33 minutes but, this time, from another corner kick, Gatti incredibly failed to slot the ball home from point blank range and sent it crashing into the stands of the U-Power Stadium.
Palladino reshuffled his cards after the restart but the Biancorossi never really managed to test Wojciech Szczesny. Their first shot came from substitute Lorenzo Colombo, but the Milan youth academy product’s attempt sailed off target.
It seemed like Juventus would take the three points home the Allegri way, i.e., scoring early on and then defending their slim lead, but the match took a completely different turn during stoppage time as Monza found the back of the net from their very first shot on target. It was a gem from 18-year-old Valentin Carboni, who conjured a fantastic curl from the edge of the box that took Szczesny by surprise.
And still, the Bianconeri had some more fuel left in the tank and managed to put their heads again before the referee would blow for full time. Rabiot’s progression along the right flank ended with a cross in the middle of the box which Gatti somehow managed to push past the goal line after initially missing the ball.
Allegri and co. thus managed to extend their non-losing streak to nine games and will be enjoying the view from top of the league table at least until Sunday. The pressure is all on Inter now.
MATCH SCORECARD
December 1, 2023 – Serie A 2021-2022 Round 14
MONZA – JUVENTUS 1-2
SCORERS: 12′ Rabiot (J), 91′ Carboni (M), 94′ Gatti (J)
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MONZA (3-4-2-1): Di Gregorio; D’Ambrosio, Pablo Marì (65′ A. Carboni), Caldirola; Birindelli (46′ Colombo), Machin (46′ Mota Carvalho), Pessina, Gagliardini, Kyriakopoulos (65′ Pedro Pereira); Ciurria, Colpani (76′ V. Carboni) (Lamanna, Sorrentino, Gori, Akpa Akpro, F. Carboni, Bettella, Maric, Bondo, Cittadini) Coach: Palladino |
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JUVENTUS (3-5-2): Szczesny; Gatti, Bremer, Alex Sandro; Cambiaso (86′ Locatelli), McKennie, Nicolussi Caviglia (69′ Danilo), Rabiot, Kostic; Vlahovic (69′ Milik), Chiesa (75′ Kean) (Perin, Pinsoglio, Huijsen, Rugani, Miretti, Nonge, Yildiz, Iling-Junior) Coach: Allegri |
REFEREE: Mr. Fabbri from Ravenna
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Kyriakopoulos (M), Bremer, Milik (J); Added Time: 1st Half 2′, 2nd Half 5′