At the end of October, Federico Chiesa returned to the pitch after an injury nightmare that lasted for almost ten long months. Since then, the 25-year-old had shown a few flashes of brilliance here and there along with a couple of assists, but something was missing, a certain statement, if you will.
So, in this sense, the Coppa Italia tie against Monza has somewhat marked the real return of the Chiesa of yore, the smashing winger who leaves defenders behind, wreaks havoc in the penalty area and finds bottom. from the net with wonderful auctions.
Yes, it was just Monza, and they weren’t even playing their starters, but the importance of scoring a winning goal in a cup contest cannot be undermined, as Euro 2020 may have finally broken through the mental barrier, which would hopefully allow him to get back to his best form sooner rather than later.
Before Chiesa’s decisive goal, Juventus and Monza were involved in a back and forth. Moise Kean had broken the tie early on, but rudimentary defending from the Bianconeri allowed Mattia Valoti to equalize from a corner.
So here are several takeaways from the action at the Allianz Stadium, as Juventus advanced to the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia following a 2-1 win over Monza.
Even in a match where Kean scores a header and grabs another disallowed goal, he manages to frustrate us by missing a sitter. Daniele Rugani and Federico Gatti looked cool and collected for most of the match. Let’s hope they do the same against tougher opponents. Max Allegri released the boys (Fagioli, Soulé, Miretti and Samuel-Iling), but we only managed the winning goal when everyone had left the pitch. But to be fair, they all enjoyed decent starts, so let’s hope the overall result doesn’t hurt their chances of getting into the next few matches. Leandro Paredes has work to do to justify a permanent stay. Love him or hate him, Angel Di Maria is arguably our best technical player, as he brings unparalleled flair. But wasting a golden goal opportunity by attempting a cheeky Rabona was probably not a good idea, especially considering the events of our previous encounter against Monza. Yes, we were already in the lead at the time, but imagine if the Biancorossi had managed to score a late equalizer. When Di Maria and Chiesa entered the field, we switched to a 4-3-3 formation, which seemed to be much more fertile than the stagnant 3-5-1-1. This is an additional reason why we must strengthen our fullback department, so that we can permanently install this more progressive lineup.
