Fiorentina vs. Juventus: Winners and Losers from Serie A Match
With Napoli not playing until Monday, Juventus knew that Sunday evening’s meeting with Fiorentina presented an opportunity to add to the pressure on their closest rivals, with a win bringing them close to sealing the title once again.
They would eventually do just that thanks to a tight 2-1 scoreline in a match which was—as Massimiliano Allegri predicted—far from simple. Over 90 difficult minutes, the Viola vindicated the Juve boss' assessment of them when he addressed reporters at his traditional pre-match press conference:
"We’ve not won anything just yet and we go to Florence looking to bring all three points back to Turin. Of course we know that it won’t be easy. The Viola have all but qualified for the Europa League and they’ll be especially pumped up for tomorrow.
We can expect a very tough and intense tussle against Fiorentina, who are the side to have scored the most amount of goals in the opening half-hour of games this season in Serie A.
"
Nevertheless, the Bianconeri emerged victorious at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, and what follows is a closer look at some of the performances during the game, highlighting the best and worst displays from this latest outing of Turin’s Old Lady.
Winner: Paul Pogba (Juventus)
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That Juventus eventually emerged as narrow winners owed much to the display of Paul Pogba, the midfielder once again delivering a stellar performance that prompted his side to victory in difficult circumstances.
An unselfish header from the 23-year-old laid on the opening goal for Mario Mandzukic, Pogba registering his league-high and career-best 11th assist of the campaign. It continued his excellent recent form, a matter discussed in this previous post, which has been key to helping the Bianconeri close in on yet another league title.
Loser: Daniele Rugani (Juventus)
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If Fiorentina were somewhat unfortunate not to emerge with at least a share of the points, no player was more relieved than Daniele Rugani. The Juventus defender endured a torrid evening at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, one which should perhaps have seen him concede a penalty for pulling Marcos Alonso’s shirt as a cross was swung into the box.
He made amends by forcing Nikola Kalinic wide late in the second half, but also picked up the first Serie A booking of his career—spanning 53 appearances—a moment marked by this tweet from OptaPaolo.
Winner: Nikola Kalinic (Fiorentina)
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Although he was disappointing in the first half, Nikola Kalinic came to life after the break, netting after Mauro Zarate caught Leonardo Bonucci making a rare mistake. The striker will be disappointed to have seen a late penalty saved by Gigi Buffon, but without him finding the back of the net this game would have been much more comfortable for the visitors.
Loser: Paolo Tagliavento (Referee)
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While referee Paolo Tagliavento cannot be held accountable for the narrow offside decision that saw Federico Bernardeschi’s first-half goal disallowed, the official would go on to make some extremely questionable decisions.
Missing what looked like a certain penalty for Fiorentina when Daniele Rugani pulled Marcos Alonso’s shirt as a corner was swung into the box, Tagliavento would then hand Fiorentina a dubious spot-kick after ruling that Juan Cuadrado had fouled Nikola Kalinic, rounding out a poor evening from the Terni, Italy, native.
Winner: Alvaro Morata (Juventus)
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Arriving from the bench in the second half, Alvaro Morata would eventually be the match-winner for Juventus, prodding home moments after the Viola equaliser. He was booked for his celebration, but the Spain international also extended a fine run of recent displays, registering three assists in his two previous appearances for the Bianconeri.
