Juventus scored a late equalizer to salvage a point against Fiorentina in Saturday’s Serie A clash at the Olympic Stadium in Turin, after Fiorentina took an early lead just four minutes into the match.
The Serie A, Round 14 clash saw a spirited Fiorentina take charge early in the match. Midfielder Gaetano D'Agostino’s free kick was headed to Juan Manuel Vargas who fired a shot, which was headed into goal by Juve defender Marco Motta.
It wasn’t until the 20th minute when Juventus carved out their first clear cut chance. Motta fired a low cross finding Claudio Marchisio who shot straight at Fiorentina goalkeeper Artur Boruc.
Juve should have leveled matters in the 27th when Alessandro Del Piero’s nicely taken one-two with Felipe Melo found him some space, but he shot wide.
The pendulum was swinging in Juve’s favor. In the 35th minute Del Piero’s free kick was very well saved by Boruc, and the 40th minute saw a Del Piero through ball to Marchisio, but his shot went wide.
With Fiorentina more and more content to play defensively protecting their one-goal lead, Juventus was given more time on the ball, but Del Piero was the only player likely to score for Juve.
Juventus coach Luigi Del Neri, in the 57th minute, made a double substitution. Del Piero came off for striker Vincenzo Iaquinta and Alberto Aquilani exchanged for Simone Pepe.
The introduction of Pepe meant Marchisio was pushed into a central midfield role, which would allow Pepe to play wide. The move enabled Juve to use more of the field in an attempt to create more chances. Iaquinta’s height advantage would hopefully connect with a Pepe or Milos Krasic cross from wide.
Only six minutes later, Fiorentina coach Sinisa Mihajlovic responded by replacing Adem Ljajic with Marco Marchionni. Five minutes later Michele Camporese was substituted for Brazilian Felipe. Both were defensive changes where Mihajlovic was looking at protecting his slender lead and hit Juve on the counterattack.
Boruc was becoming the hero of the counter. First Iaquinta dribbled past two Fiorentina defenders only to shoot directly at Boruc, and then Juve defender Georgio Chiellini ran onto the ball 20 yards out and took a direct shot on goal that was pushed wide by Boruc.
The hard work paid off for Juve in the 82nd. The home side was awarded a free kick from a wide position, and Pepe stepped up and curled a beauty that beat Boruc.
Juve could sense victory and kept the pressure up with both Krasic in the 85th making a run down the line to send in a low cross, but none of Juve’s forwards were in position.
Juventus jumped past Napoli into third spot in the Serie A standings with 24 points (goal differential), however Napoli (also with 24 points) plays Sunday against Udinese.
Juventus coach Del Neri told Goal.com, “I saw some great character from my men who battled to the end, and I think we got our just reward late on. However, given our objectives, these are two points dropped.”
Fiorentina, on the other hand, face an uphill battle as they remain 13th on the Serie A table with 16 points.
Fiorentina, who made the early running, allowed Juventus back into the match. “We didn’t close the game out intelligently. Overall I think a draw was a fair result given the course of the game,” Fiorentina coach Mihaijlovic was quoted on Goal.com.
In Saturday’s other Serie A match, Sampdoria and AC Milan played to a 1–1 draw. Milan leads Serie A with 30 points.
The Serie A, Round 14 clash saw a spirited Fiorentina take charge early in the match. Midfielder Gaetano D'Agostino’s free kick was headed to Juan Manuel Vargas who fired a shot, which was headed into goal by Juve defender Marco Motta.
It wasn’t until the 20th minute when Juventus carved out their first clear cut chance. Motta fired a low cross finding Claudio Marchisio who shot straight at Fiorentina goalkeeper Artur Boruc.
Juve should have leveled matters in the 27th when Alessandro Del Piero’s nicely taken one-two with Felipe Melo found him some space, but he shot wide.
The pendulum was swinging in Juve’s favor. In the 35th minute Del Piero’s free kick was very well saved by Boruc, and the 40th minute saw a Del Piero through ball to Marchisio, but his shot went wide.
With Fiorentina more and more content to play defensively protecting their one-goal lead, Juventus was given more time on the ball, but Del Piero was the only player likely to score for Juve.
Strategy Change by Juve
Juventus coach Luigi Del Neri, in the 57th minute, made a double substitution. Del Piero came off for striker Vincenzo Iaquinta and Alberto Aquilani exchanged for Simone Pepe.
The introduction of Pepe meant Marchisio was pushed into a central midfield role, which would allow Pepe to play wide. The move enabled Juve to use more of the field in an attempt to create more chances. Iaquinta’s height advantage would hopefully connect with a Pepe or Milos Krasic cross from wide.
Only six minutes later, Fiorentina coach Sinisa Mihajlovic responded by replacing Adem Ljajic with Marco Marchionni. Five minutes later Michele Camporese was substituted for Brazilian Felipe. Both were defensive changes where Mihajlovic was looking at protecting his slender lead and hit Juve on the counterattack.
Boruc was becoming the hero of the counter. First Iaquinta dribbled past two Fiorentina defenders only to shoot directly at Boruc, and then Juve defender Georgio Chiellini ran onto the ball 20 yards out and took a direct shot on goal that was pushed wide by Boruc.
The hard work paid off for Juve in the 82nd. The home side was awarded a free kick from a wide position, and Pepe stepped up and curled a beauty that beat Boruc.
Juve could sense victory and kept the pressure up with both Krasic in the 85th making a run down the line to send in a low cross, but none of Juve’s forwards were in position.
Juventus jumped past Napoli into third spot in the Serie A standings with 24 points (goal differential), however Napoli (also with 24 points) plays Sunday against Udinese.
Juventus coach Del Neri told Goal.com, “I saw some great character from my men who battled to the end, and I think we got our just reward late on. However, given our objectives, these are two points dropped.”
Fiorentina, on the other hand, face an uphill battle as they remain 13th on the Serie A table with 16 points.
Fiorentina, who made the early running, allowed Juventus back into the match. “We didn’t close the game out intelligently. Overall I think a draw was a fair result given the course of the game,” Fiorentina coach Mihaijlovic was quoted on Goal.com.
In Saturday’s other Serie A match, Sampdoria and AC Milan played to a 1–1 draw. Milan leads Serie A with 30 points.
