Shock at the Allianz Stadium as Fiorentina Stun Juventus

Fiorentina, Italian Football, Juventus, Serie A, Serie A 2020-2021 8 comments

From seeing their 3-0 win to Napoli cancelled by an appeal court to conceding their first Serie A loss this season, that’s hardly what you would call a good day for Juventus. The Bianconeri were unexpectedly crushed by Fiorentina at the Allianz Stadium in the Serie A Round 14 opener as they had to play with one man less for more than 70 minutes due to Juan Cuadrado’s early send-off.

When a VAR check prompted referee Federico La Penna to show the Colombian right wing-back his marching orders, Juventus were already trailing as a consequence of Dusan Vlahovic’s early goal. An Alex Sandro own goal and a Martin Caceres finisher rounded up the score for the Viola in the second half after the referee spared Borja Valero a possible send-off.

The Bianconeri protested over two possible fouls received in Fiorentina’s area, but La Penna said play on in both occasions, prompting a furious Pavel Nedved to leave the stands of the deserted Allianz Stadium before full time.

And so, the bragging rights were all for Fiorentina as Cesare Prandelli chose a peculiar time to collect his first win since he came back at the helm of the staggering Viola. He had to wait six games, but finally got the three points in style, trampling Fiorentina’s black-and-white arch-rivals and giving president Rocco Commisso a nice Christmas break after an overly disappointing 2020.

For Juventus, on the other hand, this was definitely not the best way to close a year that saw them win another Scudetto, but fail once again to reach their European chimera and place a risky bet on new coach Andrea Pirlo. All in all, the Bianconeri will get into the new year seeing more shadows than lights ahead.

This morning, they were just four points behind table leader Milan. But after today’s ruling of the Italian Olympic Committee – which cancelled the 3-0 win over Napoli they were awarded back in October – and tonight’s shocking setback, they plummeted to 7 points from the top (which could become 10 if Milan beat Lazio tomorrow).

And even though some referee decisions were not in their favor tonight, it needs to be said that when Cuadrado was – rightly – sent off on 18 minutes, Juventus had already been hit once by Fiorentina.

It took just three minutes for the Viola to open the scoring, as Franck Ribery gave yet another display of his skills with a brilliant filtering pass that caught Juventus’ defensive line by surprise and released Dusan Vlahovic. The 20-year-old Serbian dashed past Matthijs De Ligt and slotted the ball past Wojciech Szczesny to stun the Allianz Stadium.

Juventus didn’t even have the time to react as Pirlo quickly had to change his plans when he remained with one man less. Juan Cuadrado drove his cleats right into Gaetano Castrovilli’s shin and received a yellow card from Federico La Penna. However, a quick VAR check prompted the referee to upgrade his decision and show the Colombian a direct red.

Pirlo promptly removed Aaron Ramsey to add another defensive player in Danilo, switching former Fiorentina man Federico Chiesa to a right wing-back / full-back position. But it was Fiorentina to keep command of the operations and come closer to make it two. Castrovilli should have made it to the scoresheet, but his dangerous conclusion on the near post was brilliantly saved by Szczesny.

Juventus’ second substitution came after the break as Federico Bernardeschi replaced Alvaro Morata. There would be Cristiano Ronaldo’s usual winning header to report, if it weren’t that the Portuguese was caught offside by the assistant referee.

Fiorentina objectively received some help from the referee as Borja Valero was spared a second yellow after a vicious tackle on Rodrigo Bentancur. Valero had been booked just a few minutes earlier and looked overly nervous. Prandelli understood what to do and quickly replaced him with Erick Pulgar.

More controversial refereeing came as Castrovilli seemed to push down Cristiano Ronaldo in the box, and Bernardeschi ended up sandwiched between Bartlomjei Dragowski and Nikola Mileknovic – though the former Fiorentina man seemed to accentuate his fall. Federico La Penna didn’t point at the penalty spot in either case.

As the Bianconeri grew more and more nervous, Fiorentina took advantage of their frustration and of the collective bad night on the part of Juve’s defensive line to increase the proportions of their exploit. On 76 minutes, Cristiano Biraghi crossed the ball from the left and Juventus did all by themselves, as Leonardo Bonucci missed the clearance and Alex Sandro did even worse – pushing the ball into his own net.

Five minutes later, Prandelli’s band made it three, once again piercing the Bianconeri from the left, and once again from a Biraghi pass – this time finalized by former Juventino Martin Caceres.

Andrea Pirlo’s non-losing streak in Serie A is over, as the young coach collected his first domestic loss ever since he started training this August. But, with Milan, Sassuolo, and Inter all coming next for the Bianconeri after the year-end break, Pirlo’s immaculate record is really the last thing Juventus should be concerned about.

 

MATCH REPORT

December 22, 2020 – Serie A 2020-21 Round 14
JUVENTUS-FIORENTINA 0-3

SCORERS: 3′ Vlahovic, 76′ Alex Sandro o.g., 81′ Caceres

JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Szczesny; Cuadrado, Bonucci, De Ligt (88′ Frabotta), Alex Sandro; Chiesa, McKennie (73′ Kulusevski), Bentancur, Ramsey (20′ Danilo); Morata (46′ Bernardeschi), Cristiano Ronaldo (Pinsoglio, Buffon, Chiellini, Dybala, Arthur, Da Graca, Dragusin, Portanova) Coach: Pirlo
FIORENTINA (5-3-2): Dragowski; Caceres, Milenkovic, Pezzella, Igor, Biraghi (83′ Venuti); Amrabat, Borja Valero (53′ Pulgar), Castrovilli; Vlahovic (75′ Kouamé), Ribery (83′ Bonaventura) (Terracciano, Martinez Quarta, Duncan, Saponara, Lirola, Barreca, Callejon, Eysseric) Coach: Prandelli

REFEREE: Mr. La Penna from Rome
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Danilo (J), Biraghi, Ribery, Borja Valero, Venuti (F); Red Card: Cuadrado (F); Extra Time: 1st Half 2′, 2nd Half 0′

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