20 November 2016
- Super Mario!
Last night’s comfortable 3-0 victory over Pescara made it 12 wins from 14 for Juventus so far this season and fourth in a row since losing to Milan at the end of last month.
One of the most satisfying aspects of that return to winning ways has arguably been the recent magic touch of Mario Mandzukic. Consistently a scorer of crucial strikes last term, Mario's flurry of goals in November is good news for everyone, both at club and national level.
The Croatian’s second-half tap-in on Saturday, though not spectacular, was a demonstration of what Juve’s number 17 is all about from the perfect penalty box positioning to the instinctive side foot finish and a sign that he is starting to rediscover his best form in time for a critical stage of the campaign.
By also assisting Sami Khedira’s opener – yesterday’s game marked the first occasion on which he has both scored and set up a goal in the same match - Mandzukic has now had a hand in four goals (three goals, one assist) in his last four league appearances.
With important fixtures set to be coming thick and fast in the next few weeks, Mandzukic is the Bianconeri’s go-to scorer once more.
- Sehr gut, Sami
Sami Khedira is beginning to establish one of life’s great certainties; when he scores, Juventus win. Yesterday’s was Sami’s eighth Serie A strike for the club, half of which have been the all-important first of the game, just as Saturday’s was, at a moment when Pescara looked to be maintaining their clean sheet at least until the interval.
Just like Mandzukic, the German both netted and provided for the first time in a Juventus jersey and the nature of the goal was classic Khedira; the darting bursting from the inside-right position in midfield, the poise to pick his spot in the far corner and the quality to make it happen with the outside of his foot.
Sami’s showing was more than enough to be crowned man of the match according to a Twitter poll at **@juventusfcen**, taking 46 per cent of the votes.
Sehr gut, Sami, sehr gut indeed.
- Home comforts continue
By defeating Napoli three weeks ago, Massimiliano Allegri’s men ensured that at the time, it had been a full year since they dropped points on home turf.
Another victory last night made it 23 consecutive Serie A wins at Juventus Stadium, the longest active winning streak in Europe’s top five divisions, netting 55 times in the process.
With only Atalanta and Roma still to visit Turin before the calendar year is out, the champions can now focus their attentions on making it a perfect 2016 at a stadium that has only ever known success.
- Hernanes on a high
Hernanes is on a high at the moment and we’re not just speaking about the apex of his trademark back-flip celebration!
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The Brazilian’s long-range screamer was without doubt the highlight of the night and indeed the highlight of his season so far.
The midfielder has appeared nine times for the Bianconeri this season and his performance on Saturday was arguably among his best of the campaign so far as well as continuing a prolific record against Pescara; Profeta has either scored or assisted four times in three matches against the Abruzzo outfit.
- History for Kean
Since making the matchday squad for the first time on 15 October for the visit of Udinese, there has been a degree of inevitability around the appearance of 16-year-old striker, Moise Kean.
The ongoing absence of Paulo Dybala and the luxury of being able to preserve the energies of Mario Mandzukic ahead of Tuesday’s crucial Champions League trip to Sevilla finally handed the youngster his chance last night much to the delight of the home crowd.
By replacing Mandzukic in the 84th minute, Kean, wearing the number 34 jersey, became the first player born after the year 2000 to feature in a Serie A match, simultaneously going down in history as the Bianconeri’s youngest ever representative at 16 years, eight months and 23 days.
In a quirk of the calendar, the Vercelli-born forward made his first bow as a Bianconero exactly 21 years to the day since Gianluigi Buffon, rested last night, made his Italian top-flight debut for Parma; in other words, our legendary skipper was beginning his career five years before Kean was born.
