Monza, Sept. 19 (BUS): Monza pulled off a surprise but deserved home win over Juventus on Sunday, their first Serie A win of the season, as the visiting team struggled after being reduced to 10 players.
Reuters reported that the return of the main Juventus player Angel Di Maria from injury was interrupted after he was sent off five minutes before the end of the first half after injuring Armando Izo’s elbow in the chest.
“We need to do better, for sure. The red card affected the match; Angel was harassed a bit by Izu, a player known for using these tactics, and he fell in love with it. I didn’t watch the replay but I was told, Juventus assistant manager Marco Landucci told DAZN. “It was the right decision to fire him.”
Juventus had half the chances in the first half but struggled to create momentum, while Monza was instrumental in breaking play in midfield.
Dusan Vlahovic scored several attempts on goal, but it was not difficult to stop any of them on Monza goalkeeper Michel de Gregorio.
Newly promoted Monza smelled blood in the second half and pressured the opponent’s defense to commit errors, while Juventus tried to look for opportunities on the counter-attack.
Substitute Christian Getkaer became the hero when he slipped in the winning goal from Patrick Scioria’s cross in the 74th minute.
Moise Kean came close to equalizing for Juventus in the 81st minute when his header was on goal, but Di Gregorio was alert and grabbed it firmly in his fist.
Coach Massimiliano Allegri was not allowed to sit on the bench in Juventus’ first loss in Serie A of the season, after he was sent off last Sunday in a 2-2 home draw against Salernitana for protesting a disallowed VAR goal.
“Obviously no one is happy at the moment, but to get out of this situation we can only work hard and do better,” Landucci said.
“We started well and then stopped playing, so the only way is to work and everyone raises their game to work in the same direction.”
Juventus sent an exhausted squad with Arcadius Milik and Juan Cuadrado suspended, while Federico Chiesa, Caio Jorge, Paul Pogba, Manuel Locatelli and Alex Sandro were injured.
The next Monza travels to Sampdoria on October 2, after the international break, while Juventus host Bologna on the same day.
Juventus remain eighth in the standings but are now six points behind leaders Udinese after seven games, while Monza climbed to 18th place with four points.