Juventus snatched away a late 1-0 win over Fiorentina at the Allianz Stadium to bring a three-match winless Serie A streak to a halt. It wasn’t a deserved victory by any stretch of the imagination, but it was necessary for Massimiliano Allegri’s side to pick up the three points.
Juventus entered this round on the back of consecutive 2-1 defeats at the hands of Sassuolo and Hellas Verona, risking to lose three Serie A games in a row for the first time since 2011. All three points against Fiorentina were a must, but Allegri’s side needed a clutch performance from Juan Cuadrado to grab the all-important triumph.
It took Juventus over 80 minutes of play to produce their first shot on target, highlighting how difficult they found dealing with Fiorentina’s stubborn defense. The critical moment of the encounter took place in the 73rd minute when Nikola Milenkovic received a second booking, leaving Vincenzo Italiano’s team a man down in the final stretch.
Encouraged by the centre-back’s expulsion, the Bianconeri went all-out-attack and managed to capitalize on numerical superiority. Second-half substitute Juan Cuadrado came up huge in the dying moments to ensure his side would walk away victorious. The Colombian star picked the ball just outside the box and drifted past his marker before hammering the ball past Pietro Terracciano from an almost impossible angle.
The victory steered Juventus to eighth in the Serie A standings, level on points with Fiorentina and only four adrift of Atalanta, who claimed a tight 2-1 win at Cagliari this evening. Well aware of the impact this success could have on Juve’s season moving forward, Allegri refused to hide his joy about the win in the aftermath.
“It is a pity that we lost points earlier [in the season],” he said, as relayed by TUTTOmercatoWEB. “I am happy and angry at the same time. If only we always had the same malice.
“We need to increase the level of attention. I think the basis for returning to being a team that aims at the top is to make yourself available, to run, which is the most important thing in football, as well as playing well.
“We won all the tackles and it says a lot about the progress of the game. Against Sassuolo we didn’t win one and it was obvious.“