Fiorentina dent Juve’s title dreams

AFP, MILAN: Fiorentina blew a hole in Juventus’s title hopes with a shock 2-1 win in Florence on Sunday as Nikola Kalinic reassured fans troubled by a possible move to China with a superb first-half opener.
Winning coach Paulo Sousa was riled up Saturday after hearing Massimiliano Allegri claim that Juve were coming to “take command” at the Artemio Franchi stadium.
After a dominant first half that saw Fiorentina miss a host of solid chances, it appeared Allegri’s words cut deep. 
The memorable Viola win handed Juve just their fourth defeat in 20 games to leave the champions, who have a game in hand, just one point ahead of Roma. Napoli are four points off the pace in third and Lazio a further point back.
After an injury-plagued six weeks, Allegri deployed his trademark ‘BBC’ defence of Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini for the first time since October 29.
But Fiorentina were fired up from kick-off and it took only seven minutes for captain Gianluigi Buffon to launch a rallying call from the goalmouth.
Viola forward Matias Vecino was a constant threat, the Uruguayan muscling past Juve midfielder Claudio Marchisio to run into the area and unleash a drive had Buffon got down low to parry on seven minutes.
Juve were under the cosh barely two minutes later as Kalinic chased and controlled a high ball, offloading a pass to help set up Vecino for a drive at Buffon’s near post that skimmed off the upright.
Federico Chiesa’s snap shot after a nice dribble into the area had Buffon down low to parry and Vecino’s drive from distance then curled wide of Buffon’s upright on the quarter-hour.
The fast start ruffled the champions and their first chance came after 20 minutes, Alex Sandro controlling a clearance from a corner only to shoot straight at Ciprian Tatarusanu.
Fiorentina’s earlier enterprise eventually paid off, Federico Bernardeschi urging Kalinic to go on a run after taking possession and sending the Croatian through to beat Buffon with a low angled strike on 37 minutes.
Juve spurned chances to level before half-time when Juan Cuadrado missed Paulo Dybala’s cross before Higuain saw a shot charged down by Maxi Olivera.
The visitors’ woes deepened on 54 minutes, Milan Badelj’s angled drive bamboozled Buffon after Chiesa provided the foil with a run across the goalmouth.
Refreshed after being rested for Juve’s 3-2 Italian Cup win over Atalanta in midweek, Higuain reduced arrears four minutes later when he ran in to pick up the rebound from Stefano Sturaro’s close-range effort to fire past Tatarusanu.
But Juve’s chances from there on in were few and far between.

Fiorentina dent Juves title dreams

AFP, MILAN: Fiorentina blew a hole in Juventuss title hopes with a shock 2-1 win in Florence on Sunday as Nikola Kalinic reassured fans troubled by a possible move to China with a superb first-half opener. Winning coach Paulo Sousa was riled up Saturday after hearing Massimiliano Allegri claim that Juve were coming to take command at the Artemio Franchi stadium. After a dominant first half that saw Fiorentina miss a host of solid chances, it appeared Allegris words cut deep. The memorable Viola win handed Juve just their fourth defeat in 20 games to leave the champions, who have a game in hand, just one point ahead of Roma. Napoli are four points off the pace in third and Lazio a further point back. After an injury-plagued six weeks, Allegri deployed his trademark BBC defence of Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini for the first time since October 29. But Fiorentina were fired up from kick-off and it took only seven minutes for captain Gianluigi Buffon to launch a rallying call from the goalmouth. Viola forward Matias Vecino was a constant threat, the Uruguayan muscling past Juve midfielder Claudio Marchisio to run into the area and unleash a drive had Buffon got down low to parry on seven minutes. Juve were under the cosh barely two minutes later as Kalinic chased and controlled a high ball, offloading a pass to help set up Vecino for a drive at Buffons near post that skimmed off the upright. Federico Chiesas snap shot after a nice dribble into the area had Buffon down low to parry and Vecinos drive from distance then curled wide of Buffons upright on the quarter-hour. The fast start ruffled the champions and their first chance came after 20 minutes, Alex Sandro controlling a clearance from a corner only to shoot straight at Ciprian Tatarusanu. Fiorentinas earlier enterprise eventually paid off, Federico Bernardeschi urging Kalinic to go on a run after taking possession and sending the Croatian through to beat Buffon with a low angled strike on 37 minutes. Juve spurned chances to level before half-time when Juan Cuadrado missed Paulo Dybalas cross before Higuain saw a shot charged down by Maxi Olivera. The visitors woes deepened on 54 minutes, Milan Badeljs angled drive bamboozled Buffon after Chiesa provided the foil with a run across the goalmouth. Refreshed after being rested for Juves 3-2 Italian Cup win over Atalanta in midweek, Higuain reduced arrears four minutes later when he ran in to pick up the rebound from Stefano Sturaros close-range effort to fire past Tatarusanu. But Juves chances from there on in were few and far between.