Soccer Football - Champions League - Juventus v Manchester City - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - December 11, 2024 Juventus' Dusan Vlahovic during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Claudia Greco/File Photo
TURIN, Italy (Reuters) - Dusan Vlahovic was pleased to hear the applause of the Juventus supporters when he scored in their 4-0 win over Cagliari in the Coppa Italia on Tuesday, after taking their insults at the weekend.
Vlahovic netted a late equaliser in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Venezia but the Juventus players were greeted with the boos and jeers of their fans, unhappy with another poor performance and their fourth successive stalemate in the league.
The Serbian striker was the main target of their insults, despite the goal, after Vlahovic raised his thumb to the fans ironically, but all is forgiven, with the crowd cheering him before the Cagliari match and again after he opened the scoring.
"The applause of the fans makes me very happy, this is one of the biggest clubs in Europe with a huge fan base," Vlahovic told broadcaster Mediaset.
"I'm sorry for what happened on Saturday. Now we have to continue like this, all united. Every victory gives us confidence but we think game by game."
Manager Thiago Motta was happy with his side's performance as they eased into the quarter-finals, and also defended the supporters' right to criticise, despite his team remaining the only unbeaten club in the league.
"We put in a good performance, the crowd is always with us," Motta said.
"Sometimes, they have the freedom to express their emotions, we need them. Sometimes we are able to have a positive result and sometimes we are not, even if we didn't lose.
"We have the level to perform, especially when players like Nico Gonzalez return."
Gonzalez made a brief substitute appearance against Venezia, having been out of action with a muscle injury for over two months, and the Argentine winger came off the bench in the Cagliari game to net the final goal.
"The first thing I wanted was to feel good and help the team," Gonzalez said.
"We have to stay united and happy, I'm happy with the goal and the victory."
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Toby Davis)
