Frozen Frankish battle in the most heart touching match by Viola fans it ended in a very tough draw which left both teams disappointed. After a boring first half, animated only by penalties first given and then taken For Vlahovic, Kostic’s attack, which is in full recovery, seems to be making the match downhill for the Bianconeri. However, after returning from the dressing room, it was Fiorentina who responded with the goal beautiful cannon from a distance away from Mandragora where Di Gregorio couldn’t do anything.
At this point both teams were trying to take home the three points but failed to convert any of the chances created in the second half much more contradictory. In the end the match ended in a draw that did little for Juventus and Fiorentina: the Viola, despite making an encouraging step forward, still held out. without winning while Spalletti’s eleven continued to struggle after problems with Como and Bologna.
After the usual chants, a penalty was denied to Vlahovic
It was certainly winter weather for Paolo Vanoli’s first game at the Franchi, with Viola fans turning out in droves to hope Fiorentina had finally turned things around after a poor start to the season. The enthusiasm of the fans barely dampened the chilly wind that hit the town of Giglio in a match that was felt strongly by the Tuscan side: it was the Viola who started at full strength, with Ranieri trying to push Piccoli’s charge. Juventus responded with a prolonged but very sterile exchange of the ball, designed primarily to prevent the Tuscans from playing with pace: Vanoli’s eleven chose not to press high and gave the Bianconeri possession. After a deliberate stoppage by Locatelli due to Mandragora’s kick, Fagioli was forced to commit a tactical foul to stop the visitors from restarting: a yellow card was inevitable.
The Franchi chairman was forced to issue an official warning to urge Viola fans to stop targeting the former Vlahovic with discriminatory chants but the Serb’s revenge came minutes later. Instead after a pass from Kean left the Juventus defense confused, it was the former Viola who leapt with a sensational Pablo Mari tunnel and flew towards the goal defended by De Gea. The former Monza man’s hold was apparent and Doveri pointed to the spot, before being called back to the monitor by VAR: after a review, the Roma referee changed his mind and deemed the Serbian’s pull towards the defender as dominant. The reaction from the curve was not very urban and Doveri was forced to stop the match until the discriminatory chants against the Balkan striker stopped.
Kean tries, Kostic unblocks him
When play resumed, it remained fragmented and almost unwatchable: while Cambiaso’s shot was blocked by the defence, Kean was extremely unlucky when, after a lightning-fast restart, his shot hit the crossbar and was beaten by Di Gregorio. The national team forward suffered a blow to the face, bleeding from the nose, but when play resumed, Cambiaso tried twice to put the ball into the penalty area from the right, without finding a free teammate. In the 30th minute, a rough duel between Kean and Kostic on the edge of the penalty box resulted in a very interesting free kick for eleven Vanoli players. Mandragora’s left foot shot was really dangerous, Di Gregorio didn’t move but carefully evaluated the ball’s trajectory which actually grazed the goalpost before ending up below.
The match was still livened up by the duel between Vlahovic and Pablo Marì, with the Serbian going head-to-head with De Gea: the Spanish goalkeeper sent him wide and, from a tight angle, his shot just hit the outside of the goal. The most enthusiastic viola was of course Kean and Locatelli was often forced to use forceful methods to curb his excitement: McKennie was instead booked for a completely avoidable foul on Parisi. Fiorentina only emerged in the 43rd minute with a great shot from the edge of the box from Kean that lacked precision but the game remained very fragmented. Things changed in the long recovery allowed by Doveri: if Yildiz and Kean’s attacks down the wings didn’t bring luck, the goal put Juventus ahead in the 45th minute. Just before the referee sent everyone to the dressing room, Pongracic gave Kostic too much space and the Serbian winger seized the opportunity to fire in a left-footed shot that left De Gea with no hope.
Mandragora’s masterpiece, Juve until the end
During the break, Vanoli decided to recall the boring Dodò and give time to young Fortini and the move seemed to work immediately. Fiorentina are very tall, very aggressive, ready to do whatever it takes to win the ball back: Juventus are forced to move their center of gravity back but Juventus’ defense is clearly in a state of embarrassment. After winning several corners, Mandragora took advantage of a good tackle from Kean to unleash a long-range surface-to-air missile that slipped under the top corner, causing Franchi to explode. If the former Udinese man’s goal was truly beautiful, Juventus finally decided to take off the white gloves and increase the pressure to the maximum: De Gea was forced to make a non-trivial intervention to prevent Locatelli’s right-footed volley from ballooning the goal again.
After a poor first half, the second was clearly a different story: in the 52nd minute Fiorentina staged another lightning-quick restart with Kean breaking through the middle and trying to repeat his team-mate’s feat, only to find Di Gregorio’s fingertips. At the next corner, there was a fierce fight in the Juventus area but Piccoli was unable to return the ball on target from close range. However, it was Spalletti’s eleven who applied the most pressure, and De Gea prevented Kostic from getting the ball to the onrushing Vlahovic: in the 58th minute, it was Yildiz who got the better of Pablo Marì and fired a shot from the edge of the box, but it was caught by the Spanish goalkeeper. Fiorentina’s response was entrusted to Fortini, who had a truly extraordinary impact on the match: the 2006 player from Camaiore first played a low cross to Kean, turned it into a corner by the defense, then tried to do it all himself.
The U-21 winger did everything well, found space to shoot but his conclusion was too weak and ended up behind. In the 68th minute, Spalletti made the first change by calling Thuram and Kostic to the bench, giving the returning Cabal and Miretti twenty minutes. A wild Fortini pressed hard on the right and crossed again at the far post for Kean: but the national team striker was unable to coordinate and put it into the net. After a tricky control by Di Gregorio on a cross from three quarters that sent shivers down the spines of the Juventus fans present at the Franchi, Vanoli introduced young Kouadio in place of Parisi, moving Fortini to the left flank. While Fiorentina were superior from a game-play perspective, Juventus relied on impromptu counter-attacks, such as the one Vlahovic wasted with a forgettable volley.
In the 76th minute, a new substitution was made by Juventus, with Conceiçao replacing the tired Cambiaso and his liveliness embarrassed the Viola defence: some intervention from Pongracic and Pablo Marì was needed to prevent the Portuguese from getting the ball into the middle. Juventus’ strength forced the Tuscans to cover in defence: in the 82nd minute it took a great save from De Gea to deny McKennie’s header from Conceiçao’s cross from seven games. The spirits were quite hot, as was seen a few minutes later when Doveri’s intervention was needed to prevent Mandragora and Cabal attacking each other: the Colombian’s intervention was completely chaotic but there was a lot of nervousness on the pitch. Spalletti gave a few minutes to Openda and David, but this match more or less explained everything: in the Franchi the match ended in a draw which, to be honest, did not do much good for Juventus and Fiorentina.
Scoreboard
FIORENTINA (3-5-2) – De Gea; Pongracic, Pablo Mari, Ranieri (82′ Viti); Dodò (46′ Fortini), Madragora, Fagioli, Sohm (60′ Gudmundsson), Parisi (69′ Kouadio); Piccoli (60′ Ndour), Kean. Coach: Paolo Vanoli
JUVENTUS (3-4-2-1) – Di Gregorio; Kalulu, Kelly, Koopmeiners; Cambiaso (76′ Conceiçao), Locatelli, Thuram (66′ Cabal), Kostic (66′ Miretti); McKennie, Yildiz (88′ Open); Vlahovic (88′ David). Coach: Luciano Spalletti
Marker: 45+5′ Kostic (J), 48′ Mandragora (P),
Be warned: 7′ Fagioli (P), 42′ McKennie (J), 84′ Mandragora (P), 84′ Cabal (J), 89′ Parisi (P), 90+3′ Miretti (J)
Expelled:-
Referee: Daniele Doveri (Romans 1)
