The Argentine came off the bench against Spezia to score the final 0-2
Moise Kean opened the can in the first part
Just when Spezia was pressing to tie a new gray game for Juventus (0-2), the figure of the usual rescuer of Massimiliano Allegri’s team emerged, an Ángel Di María who was capital for the survival of this team on a day-to-day basis that with a left-footed shot from outside the area guaranteed victory and lifted his team to seventh position.
SPE
JUV
LINEUPS
Hellas Verona
Dragowski (Marchetti, 25′); Amian, Ampadu, Nikolaou; Gyasi, Bourabia, Ekdal (Caldara, 79′), Agudelo (Nzola, 59′), Reca; Green (Maldini, 79′), Shomurodov.
Juventus
Perín; Danilo, Rugani, Alex Sandro; Cuadrado (De Sciglio, 46′), Locatelli, Paredes (Fagioli, 46′), Rabiot, Kostic (Iling Junior, 81′); Kean (Di María, 56′), Vlahovic (Bonucci, 90+3′).
goals
0-1 M.33 Kean. 0-2 M.66 Di Maria.
Referee
F. La Penna. TA: Agudelo (16′), Reca (55′) / Locatelli (1′), Fagioli (51′).
incidents
Match corresponding to day 22 of Serie A played at the Alberto Picco stadium.
That ‘Juve’ continue with options to enter Europe, that they are not flirting with relegation, that they are in the semifinals of the Italian Cup and that they can enter the round of 16 of the Europa League has a great culprit. And it is that the ‘noodle’ Di María, since he returned from the World Cup, has proclaimed himself the undisputed leader of a dysfunctional Juventus without the Argentine on the green.
Allegri reserved him thinking about the return of the Europa League against French Nantes, like Bremer, Szczesny or Chiesa -not even called-. But he had to require his services as a firefighter in the second half to avoid the fire that was about to ignite, with a Spezia dominating the black and white and touching the goal on several occasions.
And it is that history repeated itself again. Goal for ‘Juve’ after a solid start and ceding control. Like against Nantes. As always during this season. Kean’s shot inside the area from Kostic’s pass after half an hour of the clash was once again the trigger for apathy.
So much so that Perin, a luxury substitute in the squad for the Turin team, was another of the key pieces of the victory with a commendable performance under the sticks that sustained the team in moments of greatest suffering with saving interventions that are well worth the three points.
It didn’t take long for Allegri to give place to his best player on the field to remedy his problems. Because with Di María on the pitch, the rest gets better. Vlahovic begins to feel involved because he finds in ‘Fideo’ a trustworthy ally with whom to look for himself and create danger; and because Locatelli, Paredes and Rabiot have someone to connect on offense. The circulations find a meaning, the offensive is sharper, more intelligent, more complete.
Until his arrival, ‘Juve’ was flat, predictable and even decadent. Danilo, Perin and the lack of success from the locals kept the score 0-1 until the appearance of Di María. The world champion needed ten minutes to solve the problems, with 25 minutes to go, with a powerful left-footed shot from outside the area, a trademark of the house.
The ‘Vecchia Signora’ reaped three points that lift them to seventh position, nine behind Atalanta -occupying the Conference League place- after an opaque game that illuminated the left-footed magic wand that Ángel Di María has, willing to be the hero of the season for his team and for an Allegri who has to make lineups of only ten players. This ‘Juve’ is Di María and ten more.