Soccer Football - Serie A - Monza v Juventus - Stadio Brianteo, Monza, Italy - December 1, 2023 Juventus' Federico Gatti celebrates after the match REUTERS/Daniele Mascolo
MONZA, Italy (Reuters) -Juventus's Federico Gatti scored a stoppage-time winner in a frantic finale to secure a 2-1 victory at Monza on Friday that propelled them top of Serie A.
Juve sealed victory at the death as Adrien Rabiot's pass into the six-yard box found Gatti, who initially missed his kick but quickly recovered, driving the ball into the net.
Moments earlier, Monza had grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser through Valentin Carboni after Rabiot had netted an early opener for Juve.
Juve have 33 points after 14 matches, one ahead of Inter Milan, who visit Napoli on Sunday, while Monza are 10th with 18 points.
"How can I tell you about it? It’s an incredible emotion to score such an important goal," Gatti said to DAZN.
"It’s a shame for the goal we conceded because we could have done more, including myself. We were a little tired, but I made up for it immediately. These three points are so important."
Juve earned a penalty in the 11th minute after Giorgos Kyriakopoulos pulled down Andrea Cambiaso.
Dusan Vlahovic fired his spot kick towards the bottom right but his effort was saved by Monza's goalkeeper Michele di Gregorio, who then quickly sprung up to push the follow-up away for a corner.
Juve broke the deadlock from that corner as Rabiot won an aerial duel, heading the ball into the roof of the net.
Just past the half-hour mark, Juve went close to extending their lead when Gatti fired over the crossbar.
As the rain poured down, the intensity subsided in the second half.
Monza were convinced they had secured a draw in stoppage time when Carboni unleashed a long shot that skidded off the wet surface and into the corner of the net past Juve keeper Wojciech Szczesny.
After Gatti's goal, Carboni had another opportunity to level the scores, yet his long-range shot narrowly missed the target.
"It’s an important victory because it came against a strong team that plays well," Juve manager Massimiliano Allegri said.
"We had chances to double the lead, but they kept possession in the second half. We didn’t risk much, but we left too much freedom to Carboni, who is a good player.
"We reacted immediately. Praise to the players who strongly wanted to win."
Juve will next host Napoli in Serie A on Dec. 8.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in GdanskEditing by Toby Davis)
