Few days after playing their best Serie A game of the season against Parma, Juventus suffered their first Serie A loss of the season at home against a Fiorentina side that is yet to record a win this season as Ronaldo couldn’t come to their rescue.
Fiorentina coach, Cesare Prandelli had earlier before the match expressed confidence in his lads, noting that they have raised the bar with a change of mentality since taking over the rein from Guiseppe Iachini.
It took the visitors just three minutes to be ahead after Dusan Vlahovic lifted a composed finish over Wojciech Szczesny from Grank Ribery’s through ball.
📸| Viva Fiorenza!! ✌🏻⚜️
— ACF Fiorentina (@acffiorentina) December 22, 2020
Juventus 🆚 Fiorentina 0️⃣-3️⃣#ForzaViola 💜#Fiorentina#JuveFiorentina #JUVvFIO pic.twitter.com/tATAKgL3IF
The sending off of utility man, Juan Cuadrado, who is also former Fiorentina player for a lunge on Gaetano Castrovilli in the 18th minute added to their misery. This led to a change of tactics as coach Andrea Pirlo immediately swapped angry Aaron Ramsey for Danilo.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who recently won the Golden Foot award thought he had equalised for the Biancobnerri, only for his header to be chalked off for offside.
Juventus eventually crumbled after an Alex Sandro own goal and a Martin Caceres effort sealed a famous victory for Viola.
Serie A: How Juventus day went from bad to worse against Fiorentina
The defeat capped a frustrating day for Juve. This was because they had earlier in the day lost three points and dropped to fourth in Serie A after their walkover victory over Napoli in October was rescinded. This now left them seven points off the top.
It could be recalled that Juve was awarded three points as the hosts when the visitors failed to travel because of positive Covid-19 tests.
The early goal conceded was a sucker punch as it came very early gainst a determined Fiorentina side.
Cuadrado was then sent off on his 200th Juventus appearance. The Colombian was initially issued the yellow card for a reckless high tackle on Castrovilli. After protests from Viola players, the referee had to consult his pitchside monitor before upgrading the initial yellow to a red.
Ronaldo was the only one that went close to equalising several times. The Portuguese fired just wide before forcing a good save from Bartlomiej Dragowski. He was later denied a goal by the assistant referee, who raised his flag for an offside.
Fiorentina finally killed the game via two Cristiano Biraghi’s crosses. The first was an own goal as Sandro turned it into his own net on 76 minutes. The second was tucked home from close range five minutes later by former Juve right-back Caceres, as Fiorentina ended an eight-game run without a win.
