It was dubbed the most important match of the Serie A season. Some even said that this one match would decide who won the scudetto.
After struggling to start the season, the current Italian champions, Juventus, had won 14 straight matches and had an opportunity to go top of the table once again over then leaders, Napoli. The players, the coaches and the tifosi knew that it was going to be a tough match, and that was affirmed when the match was scoreless into the 87th minute.
Simone Zaza had been substituted on for Alvaro Morata in the 58th minute to provide a different look up front. The attacking look was changed even more when Paulo Dybala was subbed off in the 86th minute, leaving Zaza as the team’s only striking option.
It was shortly after that when the Italian international forward executed arguably the most important shot of his career.
Juventus’ forward Simone Zaza (C ) celebrates with teammates after scoring during the Italian Serie A football match Juventus Vs Napoli on February 13, 2016 at the “Juventus Stadium” in Turin. MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images
After newly introduced Alex Sandro headed the ball down to Patrice Evra, the Frenchman was able to get a pass off to Zaza who stepped around his defender and fired a curling shot from outside of the box past Napoli’s goalkeeper Pepe Reina and into the back of the net. That was the shot that catapulted the bianconeri to the top of the Serie A table for the first time this season.
In his first year in the black and white stripes of Juventus, Simone Zaza is now considered a hero. But what can we truly expect from the former Sassuolo man?
Juve originally purchased the rights to Zaza in 2013 for 3.5 million euros from Sampdoria and immediately sold 50% of his rights to Sassuolo where he would play the next two seasons. The next year, Juve sold the rest of his rights for 7.5 million euros, putting a buy-back clause in the deal. In his two years with the neroverdi, Zaza scored 20 goals in 64 appearances. His buy-back clause was activated during this summer’s mercato and he joined Juve for 18 million euros.
Coming into the 2015-16 Serie A season, the 24-year-old was expected to be a fourth choice striker behind Morata, Dybala and Mario Mandzukic. Zaza has made 11 Serie A appearances for the bianconeri this season scoring 4 total goals. Three of those goals came during his eight appearances off of the bench.
His lack of matches led to transfer rumors popping up during the January transfer window. Crystal Palace showed interest in the striker, reportedly offering 27 million for his services. Juventus decided to keep Zaza and that was proven to be the correct decision as Mandzukic was sidelined with an injury and Zaza was able to fill in as the primary substitute.
That, of course, led to his being subbed on in the match against Napoli and scoring the dramatic game winner.
With Dybala set to sit out the game against Bologna on Friday in preparation for Juve’s UCL bout with Bayern Munich midweek, Zaza will once again get an opportunity to prove what he can do for the Italian champions.
If the Italian international continues to impress, he could find himself in the starting lineup more often in place of Morata who is struggling to score this season.
Juve’s current hero has a bright future with his club as well as the Azzurri, so he will continue to fight for every opportunity given to him in order to prove that he should be a permanent member of the bianconeri starting XI.
Juventus’ forward contingent could be in for a shakeup over the next couple seasons. Real Madrid included a buy-back clause in the contract for Morata which could be activated any time, leaving the Spanish international with a decision on whether to return to his home country or stay with Juve. Mandzukic is a career journeyman, playing with three different clubs in the past three seasons. Dybala is one of the brightest young attacking talents in Europe and he has garnered interested from some of the biggest clubs in the world. This could lead to him being sold, leaving Zaza as the team’s only remaining striker currently on the roster.
It appears that Zaza will be given a chance to prove that he deserves a bigger role in the bianconeri squad against Bologna on Friday and build on the momentum he gained from his “scudetto goal”.
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