23 December 2023
A first start for Kenan Yildiz with Juventus in Serie A brought the teenager a record-breaking first goal for the club. Dusan Valhovic then claimed the game’s third and final goal to seal all three points for Juventus at Frosinone.
The hosts equalised at the start of the second half through Jaime Baez, but a goal inside the final 10 minutes rewarded the Bianconeri with a crucial victory heading into the festive period.
THE MATCH
Massimiliano Allegri welcomed back Adrien Rabiot after the midfielder sat out the trip to Genoa. The coach also brought Alex Sandro and Arkadiusz Milik into the starting line-up, and granted a first start in Serie A for Kenan Yildiz.
The teenager wasted no time in leaving his mark. With his first run at the home rearguard, he burst through three Frosinone defenders, leaving them in his wake, and despite the tight angle smashed his shot low into the bottom corner.
A dream start for the 18 year old.
On the other side, the Juventus loanees, Matias Soulé, Enzo Barrenechea and Kaio Jorge, tried to spark a reaction from the hosts, but it was Yildiz once again involved in the action that almost gave Juve a second goal inside the opening quarter of an hour. His pass released Filip Kostic, who was put off just as he was about to pull the trigger.
Alex Sandro was forced off after 26 minutes. The Brazilian limped off on the day he surpassed Juan Cuadrado as the foreigner with third most appearances for the Bianconeri, replaced by Federico Gatti against his former club.
Over the half-hour mark, Juve created two more opportunities to double their lead. Firstly Milik played in an inviting cross but there were no takers at the far post. Meanwhile, Danilo powered a header over from close range from a Kostic corner.
Wojciech Szczesny was called into action with 10 minutes of the first half remaining after Soulé had dribbled his way to the deadball line. The Argentine’s driven cross was parried away by the Juve number 1.
However, Szczesny was beaten six minutes into the second half. Ilario Monterisi split the Juve defence open for Jaime Baez to slot his shot under the keeper.
Allegri made a triple change on 56 minutes, bringing on Hans Nicolussi Caviglia and Samuel Iling jr in midfield, and Dusan Vlaovic for Yildiz in attack.
Vlahovic had his first sight on goal on 63 minutes, forcing Stefano Turati to save with his feet.
On 72’, a finger-tip save by Szczesny kept out a dipping shot from Abdou Harroui as both teams went for the game’s crucial third goal - which Jventus came so close to grabbing four minutes later.
A Rabiot cut-back reached Weston McKennie, who smashed a drop-kick volley off the crossbar.
McKennie was also involved in the move that led to the winning goal. The midfielder flighted an inviting cross which was met majestically by Vlahovic. The number 9’s header looped beyond Turati before nestling into the net.
The striker then thought he had grabbed a double in the final minute of normal time. With only Turati to beat, Vlahovic placed his shot at the near post and wheeled away to celebrate. However, VAR disallowed the goal for off-side.
Juventus saw out the five minutes of added on time to reach the 40-point mark with still two games remaining before the midway point of the season.
FROSINONE 1-2 JUVENTUS (HT: 0-1)
Scorers: 12′ Yildiz, 51′ Baez, 81′ Vlahovic
FROSINONE: Turati; Monterisi, Romagnoli, Lusuardi; Lirola (30′ Baez) (79′ Kvernadze), Gelli, Barrenechea, Brescianini, Garritano (69′ Harroui); Soulé, Kaio Jorge (69′ Cheddira). Subs not used: Frattali, Cerofolini, Lulic, Caso, Cuni, Bourabia, Bidaoui. Coach: Di Francesco.
JUVENTUS: Szczesny; Danilo, Bremer, Alex Sandro (26′ Gatti); Cambiaso (69′ Weah), McKennie, Locatelli (54′ Nicolussi Caviglia), Rabiot, Kostic (54′ Iling-Junior); Milik, Yildiz (54′ Vlahovic). Subs not used: Perin, Pinsoglio, Crespi, Rugani, Miretti, Nonge. Coach: Allegri.
Referee: Mariani
Bookings: 20′ Cambiaso, 43′ McKennie
