Fiorentina and Juventus shared the spoils at the Artemio Franchi Stadium on Saturday as Christian Kouame replied to Arkadiusz Milik’s early strike in the Serie A round 5 opener. Goalkeeper Mattia Perin saved the Bianconeri as he pushed back a penalty from Luka Jovic in a match that basically lasted only 45 minutes.
There was little to report in the second portion of the game as both sides dramatically slowed down the tempo, which suggests that perhaps playing a Serie A game at 3.00 PM in the middle of one of the hottest Italian summers ever recorded was not the smartest decision.
Juventus now risk seeing their gap from the top of the table widen to four points if Atalanta and Roma win their weekly domestic games. Fiorentina remain stuck in the middle of the table with six points out of five games.
In view of the upcoming Champions League debut against PSG, Massimiliano Allegri left Dusan Vlahovic on the bench. The coach lined up his side in a 4-3-3 fashion where central striker Milk was supported by Juan Cuadrado and Angel Di Maria on the wings. Last-minute arrival Leandro Paredes made his debut as a starter in midfield.
Mattia Perin replaced Wojciech Szczesny between the sticks as the Polish custodian picked up an injury against Spezia last Wednesday.
On the other side, Vincenzo Italiano opted for a 4-3-3 setup that featured Riccardo Sottil, Luka Jovic, and Christian Kouame upfront.
Juventus put their heads ahead just nine minutes into the game. Cuadrado crossed the ball from the right and found Filip Kostic’s volley, which turned into an unexpected assist for Milik. The Pole was quick to pounce on the ball and push it past Pietro Terracciano with his chest to open the scoring.
Fiorentina had the merit of not losing their composure and started to build their play from the wings with Kouame and Sottil. However, their equalizer eventually came on the counter as Sottil recovered the ball from a Juventus corner kick and triggered Kouame’s run all along the pitch. The Ivorian ended his progression with a clinical right-foot conclusion that left no chance to Perin.
The first half ended with a thrill as referee Daniele Doveri was suddenly called by the VAR, which picked a Paredes handball in the box from a Sottil cross. The technology review awarded a penalty to the Viola but Perin’s answer to Jovic’s conversion attempt was brilliant and deflected the ball into the post.
The match was being played at a high tempo and provided much entertainment to the audience of the Artemio Franchi. Di Maria was a beauty to watch every time he touched the ball, while right-back Dodo shone among the Viola lines with some classy touches of his.
However, things changed dramatically in the second half, which offered very little to the show. Fiorentina piled up the pressure and did something more than their opponents but only came to threaten Perin once more as Sofyan Amrabat fired a tricky right-foot shot at Perin with just a few minutes on the clock.
The goalkeeper’s reply was once again fabulous and won him the man of the match award by unanimous decision.
Massimiliano Allegri was left with more doubts than certainties ahead of his Champions League curtain-raiser. Di Maria still need to recover his best form and lasted only 45 minutes as the coach had to replace him with Mattia De Sciglio at half time.
Paredes also picked up a slight injury. Danilo was stoic as he ended the game on his legs despite also suffering an ankle injury. He had to stay on the pitch as his manager had already made five substitutions.
All in all, it was not the best afternoon for Juventus. Fiorentina, on the other hand, can be happy with earning a point from the confrontation with their archenemies and can now switch their mindset to their Conference League game on Thursday – the first European match in six years for the Viola.
MATCH SCORECARD
September 3, 2022 – Serie A 2022-2023 Round 5
FIORENTINA – JUVENTUS 1-1
SCORERS: 9′ Milik (J), 29′ Kouame (F)
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FIORENTINA (4-3-3): Terracciano; Dodo, Milenkovic (54′ Martinez Quarta), Igor, Biraghi; Maleh (62′ Mandragora), Amrabat, Barak (78′ Zurkowski); Kouame (62′ Ikoné), Jovic (78′ Cabral), Sottil (Bianco, Cerofolini, Gollini, Nico Gonzalez, Ranieri, Saponara, Terzic, Venuti) Coach: Italiano |
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JUVENTUS (4-3-3): Perin; Cuadrado (64′ Miretti), Danilo, Bremer, Alex Sandro (78′ Bonucci); McKennie, Paredes (83′ Fagioli), Locatelli; Di Maria (46′ De Sciglio), Milik, Kostic (64′ Kean) (Pinsoglio, Garofani, Gatti, Rugani, Vlahović, Soulé) Coach: Allegri |
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Amrabat (F), Alex Sandro, Locatelli, Danilo (J); Extra Time: 1st Half 2′, 2nd Half 4′
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