Juventus 2 - Monza 1: Initial reaction and random observations

Yesterday at 06:05 PM

A win ... in Serie A. It actually happened again!

As the final whistle sounded on a frigid Sunday night at the U-Power Stadium, you wouldn't be mistaken to hear a collective sigh of relief from plenty of Juventini watching on. I know I was one of them, with the sense that Juventus' first win in 43 days was very much secured but was also a total grind to get to that point where three points were finally secured again.

It was a grind no doubt. Maybe even a bit of a slog some of the time. And there's no doubt in my mind that the game film from this one will not be one that is enshrined in the Juventus Museum and cherished for the months and years to come.

But, thankfully, Juventus got the win.

And when it comes to the Serie A portion of Juventus' schedule, that is not something we've been able to say for a month and a half.

The streak of four straight draws in league competition is officially a thing of the past with Juve's 2-1 win over a Monza side that took the field at the bottom of the Serie A table. Juventus, on a night when they were far from their best, made a Nico Gonzalez goal right before halftime stand during an incredibly nervy second half when it looked the final score would be anything but what it ended up being. Yet, even with Monza — a team that has some of the worst attacking numbers in the league — putting Juventus' defense under on a regular basis after the halftime break, a team that was bending did not fully break even though it was very much trending that direction.

No matter how they got there, it's three points that were very much needed.

There's no other way to say it really. Because of how this season has been and with all the draws that this team has recorded — especially against clubs like Monza who are in or around the relegation zone — Juventus couldn't let an 11th draw take place. Not against Monza. Not against a team that has yet to win at home this season and only has recorded three points at the U-Power like Monza has.

It was not the easiest way to get there, with the second half being a much different one than the first. But Juventus, finally, have a win in Serie A again. We haven't been able to say that much at all the last couple of months with so many draws.

Heck, we haven't had the chance to say Juventus have won back-to-back games much at all this season in all competitions, with the wins over Cagliari in the Coppa Italia and Sunday's victory over Monza being the first time since Sept. 28 and Oct. 2 in which Juve have won two straight games.

And in a way, it's fitting that it's a Gonzalez goal that decides it because those two games, against Genoa and RB Leipzig, are the last two games that the Argentine started prior to the trip to Monza.

It didn't always look like that lead was going to hold, though. Whether it was down to a defense that is very much not looking as sound as they were a couple of months ago or simply being tired after a busy couple of weeks ahead of a week in between Matchdays 17 and 18 thanks to Christmas, Juve's defense was very much being stretched and under pressure a fair bit of the time by Monza. At the other end of the field, they weren't able to put Monza away and find a third goal despite the fact that Monza goalkeeper Stefano Turati looked anything but comfortable as he saw the man who took over for in goal at the other end of the field.

"Nervy" feels like an appropriate way to describe Juventus' second-half performance.

But they got it done. Probably because of how so much of this season has gone to date you were just waiting for that Monza equalizer to come — and it would be hard to blame you for thinking along those lines; I know that I certainly drifted into that frame of mind a few times — at some point in the second half. It never did, though. And for that we can be thankful for just a few days before Christmas.

So now just one more game remains in a 2024 that has seen plenty of frustrating moments. At the very least, Juventus will head into next weekend's showdown with Fiorentina at the Allianz feeling a little better about things since they're actually coming off a win in the league. That sure is nice to say again.

RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS

• RIP to the draw streak. I think it's safe to say I won't miss you one single bit.
• We were back to being able to count the number of outfield players available off the bench with one hand. Good times. good times. Injuries are fun and everybody loves them.
• Second straight game in which Michele Di Gregorio had to make a save within the first minute. At least the save against Monza was a lot easier than the kick save he made middweek in the Coppa.
• We know about the Ex Effect and how that can come into play sometimes, but what do we call it when the son of a former Juventus player scores against them? Samuele Birindelli, unfortunately, now has thinking about all that.
• Who wants to have fun with some first half stats? Come on! You know you do!
• Juventus had 62% of the possession, but Monza finished with the advantage in total shots, 8-5. Just as one would expect when there's such a possession swing in one direction, right?
• Six of Monza's eight shots came from within the Juventus penalty area — which shows you just how much Juve's defense was struggling to find their footing after the Bianconeri went up 1-0.
• Speaking of those Monza shots in the box, thank goodness Teun Koopmeiners was willing to sacrifice his body and block what looked to be a second equalizer from the home side.
• Also hope that Koopmeiners coming off at halftime was more tactical than anything else. i know he's been battling the flu over the last week, so let's just keep it to those two options and nothing else.
• I would rather Dusan Vlahovic be frustrated on the bench because of how things didn't go for him rather than him being completely uncomposed on the field because a few calls didn't go his way and he's subsequently screaming at the ref every chance he gets. These kinds of nights happen to strikers. It's now about what he does the next time out ... which just so happens to be against his former club.
• It will never cease to amaze me how easy Kenan Yildiz makes controlling the ball with his chest look. Just totally no big deal at all. He does it over and over again, and it looks somewhat effortless at this point. Then he goes and runs at a defender a second later and it is all one fluid motion. This boy is good, but you probably knew that already.
• If the plan is to having Gonzalez play more in the No. 10 role and Koopmeiners a little deeper, it's going to be quite interesting to see how Yildiz and Nico start to play off each other. We know Francisco Conceição is going to do his thing out on the right and try to trick and flick opposing defenders into oblivion, but there's a lot of interchangeability possible between Gonzalez and Yildiz based on how they like to play. Just stay healthy now, Nico.
• The marking both on the cross that led to Monza's goal and the goal itself ... not great.
• For that simple reason, I'm happy that Andrea Cambiaso is back and now has a week to get fully match fit again to be ready to return to the starting lineup against Fiorentina. It will be nice to have a couple of fullbacks actually available again.
• Who had Monza outshooting Juventus on their bingo card for the day? Because I certianly didn't knowing that Monza were basically averaging about half the amount of shots they finished with on Sunday night.
• Then again, this Juve season continues to be somewhat confusing sometimes, so maybe we should have totally expected something like that to happen.
• I'm just glad Juventus won. That's pretty much the biggest takeaway form this one that you can have. The streak of draws is over. They got three points again. It's been a while.