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Andrea Pirlo believes Juventus are starting to see the best of Federico Chiesa after he overcame his initial shyness following a loan move from Fiorentina.
Italy international Chiesa scored his sixth Serie A goal of the season (one coming for Fiorentina) on Saturday as Juve defeated Sampdoria 2-0 at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
Aaron Ramsey added the second in stoppage time as Juve made it three consecutive wins against Claudio Ranieri’s side without conceding a goal.
Pirlo is impressed with the impact Chiesa is starting to have on the defending champions but has urged the 23-year-old to add to his goal tally.
“Chiesa is a young player who joined a big club, facing international matches for the first time, and it was a big step up for him, so he was a little shy at first,” Pirlo told Sky Sport Italia.
“He’s settled now, gained in confidence and has improved a great deal.
Saturday night right
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— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 30, 2021
“It’s good that he is finishing off the moves that we attack, and he ought to do it more often, making the most of his runs from deep.”
Cristiano Ronaldo did not enjoy similar success in front of goal, the game marking the first time he has gone three Serie A matches without finding the back of the net since April 2019.
Pirlo, though, was not too critical of his star man and praised him for his contribution to both goals, the Portuguese star teeing up Alvaro Morata and Juan Cuadrado’s assists.
“Ronaldo gave his contribution again today with his passes for both goals, so the important thing is that the team wins,” he added.
Juve have won six of their seven matches across all competitions in 2021 and Pirlo believes his players are starting to hit their stride as they bid to eat into Milan’s seven-point lead over them at the Serie A summit.
“When the defence keeps a clean sheet, it also means the midfield and attack have started the press,” he said. “We’re improving, but can do even better.
“We are starting to find our form and making the movements more automatic, because in the first few games they were practically test runs, as we didn’t really have a pre-season training camp.
“It took a little longer than usual, but we’re finding our feet now and will keep improving.”
Juve face Inter in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final on Tuesday before hosting Roma in Serie A on Saturday.
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