Matchday 17 of this Serie A season couldn’t have gone much better for Juventus Women, with the Bianconere making it two from two in Derby d’Italia games against Inter this term with a 2-0 win in Milan.
The game was decided early on by an unplayable duo of Maelle Garbino (with two assists) and Joe Echegini (with two goals).
The match
Just seven minutes were enough for Juventus Women to open the scoring away at Inter, with Echegini again proving to be a threat and continuing her fine start to life in Italian football.
But the move in its entirety was special. Echegini was heavily involved in winning the ball back, and then an exchange of passes between the Nigerian, Cristiana Girelli and Maelle Garbino ended with the latter crossing for the January signing to head home.
Just seven more minutes later and the lead was doubled, and through a familiar source. Once again Garbino found space on the left after Girelli’s participation and she put another perfect ball into Echegini’s path, who made no mistake in finishing past Sara Cetinja.
Inter looked to respond and Annamaria Serturini did have a big chance fall her way, but Pauline Peyraud-Magnin had a relatively comfortable night’s work.
Juventus were firmly in control from early on, and coach Joe Montemurro made a number of changes in the second half with the Bianconere on course for another win over Inter.
Joe Montemurro’s comments
“It was the kind of game that I expected from the girls, despite the difficult pitch that made it hard to play as we would have liked to play. It wasn’t easy to get the ball rolling in midfield, but we were able to reorganise ourselves from the start and we were able to take all three points.
“We were very solid defensively and I can only congratulate the girls for that.
“[Joe] Echegini’s impact has been very good, and it’s showing on the pitch. She’s the king of player I like, she doesn’t speak too much but she shows what she’s worth in games. She’s always paying attention throughout the week to what we want to do, and then she’s able to give everything for 90 minutes. What she’s doing on the pitch speaks for itself and she’s scoring goals and playing well.”
Joe Echegini’s post-match words
“It feels amazing [to score my first brace for Juventus], the team played amazing. I’m really excited for the next game. To come over to a good side and win the derby is amazing, I’m just really excited for the next games now.”
"I didn’t actually know it was four goals [in five games], I haven’t been keeping count. But I think one of the better aspects of my game is the ability to score so I always have confidence in front of goal and try to find myself in front of goal. Sometimes you have to just have to just go for it and see what happens, and be more eager to go and get the ball.”
Inter 0-2 Juventus Women
Goals: 6’Echegini (J), 13’ Echegini (J)
Inter: Cetinja, Bonfantini (67’ Bugeja), Robustellini, Serturini (86’ Jelcic), Alborghetti (Cap), Magull, Milinkovic, Thogersen, Csiszar (74’ Polli), Cambiaghi, Tomter.
Unused subs: Piazza, Bonetti, Fordos, Pandini, Simonetti, D’Elia.
Coach: Rita Guarino
Juventus: Peyraud-Magnin, Lenzini (78’ Gama), Salvai (Cap), Calligaris, Boattin, Grosso (83’ Palis), Caruso, Echegini (78’ Thomas), Cantore (70’ Bonansea), Girelli, Garbino (70’ Beerensteyn)
Unused subs: Aprile, Bragonzi, Cascarino, Pelgander
Coach: Joe Montemurro
Referee: Maria Marotta
Assistenti: Federico Fratello, Roberto D’Ascanio
Fourth Official: Guglielmo Noce
Bookings: 11’Caruso (J), 27’Magull (I), 56’ Boattin (J), 84’ Milinkovic (I), 89’ Peyraud Magnin (J)