It’s one of the first lessons you learn playing soccer (or most any sport): play to the whistle. That tenet is even more important in the age of VAR, when professionals know the referee can consult replay to confirm goals, at least in countries that aren’t in the Dark Ages. The Mario Mandzukic goal vs. Torino was the result of Juventus punishing its rival for not playing to the whistle in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals on Wednesday.
With Juventus leading via a Douglas Costa goal in the 15th minute, Mandzukic put the match away in the 67th minute. Juventus’ Sami Khedira took out Torino’s Afriyie Acquah and many of Acquah’s teammates all but stopped, expecting a foul to be whistled. But the Bianconeri continued to play and when the ball fell to Mandzukic, the Croatian striker made no mistake with his finish.
#JuveTorino #TIMCup #DerbyDellaMole goal #Mandzukic #FinoAllaFine #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/vzKrg15lao
— Giovanni Russo (@giovarusso68) January 3, 2018
It wasn't Mandzukic's best goal, but it was a nice finish and one Alvaro Morata could learn from.
Because this match was in Italy, which has VAR, the referee consulted replays after the goal and did not see any reason to take the score off the board. A second look at it though makes you wonder why exactly Khedira wasn’t deemed guilty of a foul on Acquah.
While the second goal certainly changed the match, at least the actual match-winning goal was not in dispute. Douglas Costa hit a fantastic, first-time volley into the upper 90 to give Juventus the early lead it would not relinquish.
Despite the Brazilian’s brilliant goal, Il Toro will feel aggrieved by the Mandzukic goal vs Torino.
Juventus will now play Atalanta and Papu Gomez in the Coppa Italia semifinals while Lazio and AC Milan face off in the other semifinal.
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