Fiorentina blew a hole in Juventus’s title hopes with a shock 2-1 win in the Serie A 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 on Saturday after hearing Massimiliano Allegri claim that Juventus was 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 Juventus just its fourth defeat in 20 games to leave the champion with just a point ahead of Roma which has a game in hand, while Napoli is 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.
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 result:
Fiorentina 2 (Kalinic 37, Badelj 54) bt Juventus 1 (Higuain 58) . — AFP
