Tim Weah made the most of his substitute appearance in Juve’s second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinal on Tuesday night, setting up what would be the winning goal of the two legs, and helping to see his team through to a final date with Atalanta.
Lazio 2 – 1 Juventus (agg. 2-3)
Entering Tuesday’s second leg with a 2-0 aggregate lead from the first leg in Turin, Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri opted for a full-strength lineup in Rome, trotting out USMNT star Weston McKennie in his starting XI alongside the usual suspects in midfield.
After starting during the weekend, Weah returned to a substitute role, but would later be half of a one-two punch from the bench that eventually put the Old Lady in yet another major final.
Needing two goals to overturn the deficit, Lazio came out gunning from the opening whistle, and cut the lead in half before the game even reached the quarter-hour mark.
The hosts’ opening goal came from a dead-ball situation, as Luis Alberto lined up to take a corner from the left side. His high, inswinging attempt found the forehead of Valentin Castellanos at the edge of the six-yard box, and the Argentinean’s shot flew into the right side of goal untouched.
Throughout his 81 minutes before being subbed out, McKennie did his usual job in the midfield, causing trouble around the Lazio area with six touches inside the 18-yard box, although not making any attempts on goal himself.
Still, Lazio’s ability to largely neutralize Juve’s attack, despite not completely dominating the game as one would expect for a team smelling blood in the air, did open opportunities as the game wore on.
A fast charge up the right flank in the 48th minute after the visitors put just a bit too much forward resulted in a second goal from the same Lazio combination as the first, although this time in open play.
With a long diagonal pass from the midfield stripe, Lazio’s Felipe Andeson found Alberto in open space 40 yards out from goal, positioned between five Juve defenders, although still with more than enough room to operate. The Spanish midfielder tapped the ball forward to Castellanos, who fought off two defenders before lashing his low shot past keeper Mattia Perin to pull the aggregate score even.
Four minutes later, McKennie had a scare when he looked to have pulled a hamstring deep in Lazio territory, however he was able to continue playing after a few moments on the sideline wincing in pain. Shortly afterwards, he nearly triggered a scoring opportunity when he tried to square the ball to Dusan Vlahovic from the left side of goal near the endline, but a crowd of Lazio players ensured the Serb had no room to take the shot.
Weah came on for right winger Andrea Cambiaso in the 70th minute, and teamed up with fellow substitute Arkadiusz Milik with seven minutes left in regulation to seal the tie.
Receiving the ball just inside the right edge of the area with no defender nearby, Weah had plenty of time to anticipate a short run from Arkadiusz Milik. He found the Polish international at the far post with a low cross, and the easy, two-yard finish was enough to give Juve the final 3-2 aggregate victory.
After Atalanta overcame their narrow deficit against Fiorentina on Wednesday night, the final on May 15 in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico will be an all-northern affair, with Juve looking to win a record 15th title, and Atalanta their second. The game will also be a rematch of the 2021 final, which saw the Old Lady take a 2-1 win for their most recent major trophy.
In the meantime, they still have the final weeks of their Serie A campaign to see through, beginning with Saturday’s home game against AC Milan.
