Juventus struggle but give fans a Christmas present against Frosinone

Juve couldn’t make their early lead stand up on its own, but this time managed to snag a late winner.

After last Friday night’s stumble at Genoa, Juventus took to their second straight road game with a clear objective: get back on track before next weekend’s last big game of the calendar year against Roma.

Their opponent: a Frosinone team that can and has been called a Juventus farm team this year. Three Juve players are on loan to the Serie B title winners, and a fourth is likely on his way in January. But the Canarini are no slouches. Despite a rough run of form lately, they’ve done well for a promoted team. They’d amassed 17 of their 19 points at the Stadio Benito Stirpe this year, only losing to Napoli — a result they avenged in decisive fashion midweek, when they went into the Maradonna and pummeled the Partenopei 4-0 in the Coppa Italia.

Coming off the emotional high of that win, the home team wasn’t just going to be a speed bump. But Juve made an early statement when teenage attacker Kenan Yildiz marked his first senior team start with his first senior team goal on an incredible solo effort. But just like last week, corto muso failed the Bianconeri early in the second half, when a defensive lapse allowed the hosts to level the score.

For long stretches after the equalizer, Frosinone looked like the team more likely to score the game’s second goal, only for Juve to snag the go-ahead score with 10 minutes left of an excellent cross and header combination between Weston McKennie and Dusan Vlahovic, giving them a 2-1 lead that they would hold this time, taking three points and keeping pace with Inter, who beat Lecce later in the day to maintain their four-point advantage in the title race.

Massimiliano Allegri had announced in the pre-match press conference on Friday that Federico Chiesa would miss the game with knee pain. He joined Moise Kean and Mattia De Sciglio, as well as the two suspended midfielders. Allergi used his usual 3-5-2, with Wojciech Szczesny at its base. The Brazilian back three was reunited with Danilo, Bremer, and Alex Sandro stretched across defense. Andrea Cambiaso and Filip Kostic were the wing-backs, bracketing the trio of Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli, and Adrien Rabiot. Yildiz took the place of Chiesa in the front two, pairing with Arkadiusz Milik.