Federico Chiesa's spectacular goal helped Juventus defeat Monza 2-1 to advance to the Coppa Italia quarterfinals.
Chiesa curled in off the post with 12 minutes left in the game on Thursday at the Allianz Stadium after coming on as a second-half replacement. Juve had taken an early lead thanks to Moise Kean, but Mattia Valoti's effort offset it. Kean saw what he believed to be the winning goal disallowed for offside, but Chiesa scored shortly after to win the match.
In the first few seconds, Nicolo Fagioli missed a golden opportunity for Juve, but Kean headed Weston McKennie's cross into the far corner in the eighth minute, making little difference to the outcome.
Valoti equalized the score against the flow of play by scoring his third goal in as many Coppa Italia games; Mattia Perin was only able to push the forward's header into the roof of the net.
Juve's youthful players responded strongly, with Matias Soule forcing a diving save from Alessio Cragno and Samuel Iling-Junior shooting wide, but the hosts were unable to recover the lead before halftime. Four minutes after the restart, Kean nearly added a second when he sprinted into the area, but Cragno was once more on hand for Monza.
After Danilo's shot ricocheted off Pablo Mari and struck the crossbar, Juve had the ball in the back of the net when Kean headed home the rebound. However, the offside flag ended Kean's celebrations.
When Chiesa found space on the left side of the box and curled a shot in off the right post in the 78th minute, the pressure had finally taken its toll.
JUVE IS HOPEFUL
Juve's chances of winning the Serie A are all but gone after they were destroyed by Napoli last week, but they still have a strong chance of winning the cup.
A reserve team rarely appeared to be in charge while having somewhat less possession (38.6%), but they did manage two more shots than Monza (11 to nine), and Chiesa produced the quality when it counted.
CHIESA IS BACK ON THE OFFENSIVE.
Italy international Chiesa had a difficult year, spending the majority of it on the sidelines due to a knee injury that kept him out of play for an extended amount of time.
His goalless streak was even longer, but with his decisive goal, he finally scored in a match of any significance for the first time since January of last year. Chiesa is probably going to be important if Juve is going to win any trophies this year.
MONZA LEFT TO LAMENT WASTED CHANCES.
The visitors tied the game in the first half after falling behind early, but ultimately they left it too late to get a second wind after the break. They'll be annoyed by that, especially given their domination in terms of possession.
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