In Turin, Italy, Juventus secured a 1-0 victory against Fiorentina to end their four-game winless streak in the league. The winning goal came in the first half from Federico Gatti, helping Juventus solidify their position in third place in Serie A on Sunday.
Following this win, Juventus now have 62 points, narrowing the gap with second-placed AC Milan to six points and extending their lead over Bologna in fourth place to four points. Inter Milan leads the table with 79 points and will face Udinese on Monday. Fiorentina remains in tenth place with 43 points.
Despite having three goals disallowed for offside in the first half, Juventus managed to take the lead in the 21st minute through Gatti’s goal, which ultimately proved to be the winner for the team.
After a tougher second half, Juventus managed to hold on for their second victory in the last 10 league games, following their 2-0 win against Lazio in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg earlier in the week.
Fiorentina initially dominated possession, but Juventus looked more threatening, with two goals ruled out for offside in the opening 12 minutes. Dusan Vlahovic, aiming for his first goal against his former club, was particularly frustrated by one of the disallowed goals.
Juventus finally broke the deadlock when Bremer’s header hit the post, allowing Gatti to score from close range. Before half-time, Cristiano Biraghi had Fiorentina’s first dangerous shot, though it missed the target.
In the second half, Fiorentina improved and nearly equalized when Nicolas Gonzalez’s shot was tipped onto the crossbar by Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. Fiorentina continued to push for a goal, with Lucas Beltran’s close-range shot blocked by his own teammate, M’Bala Nzola.
Fiorentina’s poor away record in Turin continued, as they have now lost 12 of their last 13 games against Juventus. Earlier in the season, Juventus also secured a win in Florence against Fiorentina.
There is a possibility of the two teams meeting again in the Coppa Italia, as Fiorentina also won the first leg of their semi-final against Atalanta. Juventus will look to build on this victory as they aim to climb further up the Serie A standings.
Reported by Trevor Stynes and edited by Ken Ferris.
