First the assist for Miretti, then the goal. The Canadian broke a 135-day fast. “The penalty against Lecce? It’s forgotten”
Simply, what was needed. With the whole team – including the bench – embracing him on the pitch and sharing the relief of the goal he found again in Serie A after 135 days of fasting. The evening at the Mapei Stadium was above all Jonathan David’s evening, even if his performance was the last of Juventus’ three and even if up to that point his performance had been “ordinary”. However, the attackers are measured by the goals they score, for better or for worse, and the collective participation in the “circle of life” that formed around the Canadian after the goal bears witness to how much the Juventus world was anxiously awaiting the moment of redemption. However, at the end of the match he did not miss the opportunity to reconfirm himself as cool as his nickname, Iceman: “I really appreciated the gesture of my teammates. That goal should have been scored, because the important thing was to get back to winning straight away.”
those 110 seconds
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The previous chapter of the season, on Saturday, had not ended in the best way for the former Lille player: the missed penalty against Lecce with a failed “scavetto” had triggered boos from part of the Allianz Stadium as if to elect the gesture as a symbol of the missed victory. With a shirt that already weighs a lot when things go the right way, being in the eye of the storm can turn into a curse. He, however, struck at the first opportunity to change inertia for this 2026: “The thing that weighed on me the most about that missed penalty – explained David – was the final equalizer which had the flavor of defeat. I always change the way I kick, but this time I didn’t hit the ball as I would have liked”. It matters little now, because current events overwrite memory and at the Mapei Stadium, in just 110 seconds, Jonathan dusted off the collective memory on the reasons for Juventus’ summer investment: first he launched Fabio Miretti towards the second goal with a perfect pass and then – less than 2′ later – he took advantage of Jay Idzes’ gift to fly towards the goal to chase away the ghosts of those 11 metres. Mission accomplished, towards a change of trend that could also remove the rumors of a transfer market in the Signora’s offensive department.
all for one
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As Luciano Spalletti explained after the victory in Reggio Emilia, everyone rallied around David during the week to make him feel the team’s support. The collective embrace is the depiction of this cohesion, which was also explicitly reiterated by the players interviewed after the match. Fabio Miretti, for example, the beneficiary of his assist: “We are a really very united group, the whole group protects those who are attacked.” Khephren Thuram also echoed this, showing the smiles that the Canadian sometimes seems to show off sparingly: “We are happy for Johnny – he underlined -, it was a difficult moment for him after the missed penalty and he played a great game”. And many regards to those damned 11 meters.
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