Dusan Vlahovic thanked Angel Di Maria for letting him take the penalty that broke his Juventus goal drought. ‘Strikers live for goals and it really helped me.’
The Serbian had been struggling all season with injuries and poor form, which carried on into and beyond the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, not finding the net at club level since the Derby della Mole against Torino in October 2022.
However, he well and truly rediscovered his confidence at the Stadio Arechi with two goals and an assist for Filip Kostic, securing the 3-0 victory away to Salernitana.
His last Serie A away goal was all the way back in April 2022, last season.
“Above all, the most important thing is that we won the game. We hadn’t won in three, so that was crucial. I want to thank the squad, the coach and we must continue like this,” Vlahovic told DAZN.
In theory, Di Maria should’ve been the penalty taker this evening, but Vlahovic clearly went over to grab the ball and had a brief discussion with Fideo before converting past Guillermo Ochoa.
“For a striker, it is important to score a goal. Strikers live for goals. I thank Di Maria for letting me take that penalty, it really helped me.”
This ends a drought lasting 115 days, but the former Fiorentina centre-forward is still making his way back from that long and irritating sports groin inflammation.
“It is my second game, my first goal after 115 days, so I need a few more matches to get that tempo up, but I feel better and hope that soon I will reach 100 per cent.”
Even with a 3-0 lead away from home, Max Allegri was still screaming furiously at his players from the touchline throughout the second half.
“He knows what we can do and doesn’t want us to relax, even if we are 3-0 up, because we must remain solid and continue to play our football. Some games can seem easy and we make mistakes, so he pushes us to keep working harder and always with even more focus.”
The coach also urged his team to remember that the 15-point Serie A penalty and therefore treat the trip to Salernitana as a relegation dogfight.
“This is the reality. We had 23 points before this match, now it’s 26, we just have to take it one game at a time and try to win every time, because winning is all that matters at Juventus.”
Finally