Monza race past stalling Juventus in Turin
The Old Lady started brightly despite the 15-point deduction that has rocked the club. Leandro Paredes’ free-kick was agonisingly out of reach of a teammate, while an Adrien Rabiot run opened up Monza’s defence before Filip Kostic’s cross was deflected behind.
Somewhat against the run of play, the Biancorossi thought they had taken an early lead when Gianluca Caprari drove home, only to be ruled offside by VAR.
Monza beat Juve last September for their first-ever win in Italy’s top flight though, and it didn’t take long for Raffaele Palladino’s men to put that offside blow behind them.
Jose Machín’s slide-rule pass released Patrick Ciurria in the box, and the 27-year-old composed himself to finish high past Wojciech Szczesny.
Kostic fluffed his lines as Juve looked to mount a comeback, but stunningly the lead was doubled on 39 minutes, thanks mainly to a dazzling dribble by Carlos Augusto, who twinkled upfield and past Bremer before sliding the perfect reverse pass for Dany Mota to round Szczesny, slot in and stun the home faithful.
Massimiliano Allegri responded with a triple substitution to start the second period as Manuel Locatelli and teenagers Samuel Iling-Junior and Matias Soule replaced Paredes, Kostic and Nicolo Fagioli, and the deficit was almost halved just after the break when a corner skipped off Carlos’ head and zipped just wide of his own goal.
Moise Kean was jeered as Arkadiusz Milik replaced him shortly before the hour and Dusan Vlahovic also made his long-awaited return from injury.
Despite the changes, Juve couldn’t break through, with Locatelli and Angel Di María’s fierce efforts the most dangerous as Monza goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio produced several superb saves and Milik was forced off before the end.
The result means that Juve now sit 14 points off the European places and could be even further adrift by the end of the weekend if Lazio or Roma avoid defeat when they play Fiorentina and Napoli respectively.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Michele Di Gregorio (Monza)