Cult Of Calcio
Fiorentina and Juventus shared the spoils at the Artemio Franchi Stadium on Saturday as Christian Kouame replied to Arkadiusz Milik’s early strike in the Serie A round 5 opener. Goalkeeper Mattia Perin saved the Bianconeri as he pushed back a penalty from Luka Jovic in a match that basically lasted only 45 minutes.
There was little to report in the second portion of the game as both sides dramatically slowed down the tempo, which suggests that perhaps playing a Serie A game at 3.00 PM in the middle of one of the hottest Italian summers ever recorded was not the smartest decision.
Juventus now risk seeing their gap from the top of the table widen to four points if Atalanta and Roma win their weekly domestic games. Fiorentina remain stuck in the middle of the table with six points out of five games.
In view of the upcoming Champions League debut against PSG, Massimiliano Allegri left Dusan Vlahovic on the bench. The coach lined up his side in a 4-3-3 fashion where central striker Milk was supported by Juan Cuadrado and Angel Di Maria on the wings. Last-minute arrival Leandro Paredes made his debut as a starter in midfield.
Mattia Perin replaced Wojciech Szczesny between the sticks as the Polish custodian picked up an injury against Spezia last Wednesday.
On the other side, Vincenzo Italiano opted for a 4-3-3 setup that featured Riccardo Sottil, Luka Jovic, and Christian Kouame upfront.
Juventus put their heads ahead just nine minutes into the game. Cuadrado crossed the ball from the right and found Filip Kostic’s volley, which turned into an unexpected assist for Milik. The Pole was quick to pounce on the ball and push it past Pietro Terracciano with his chest to open the scoring.
Fiorentina had the merit of not losing their composure and started to build their play from the wings with Kouame and Sottil. However, their equalizer eventually came on the counter as Sottil recovered the ball from a Juventus corner kick and triggered Kouame’s run all along the pitch. The Ivorian ended his progression with a clinical right-foot conclusion that left no chance to Perin.
The first half ended with a thrill as referee Daniele Doveri was suddenly called by the VAR, which picked a Paredes handball in the box from a Sottil cross. The technology review awarded a penalty to the Viola but Perin’s answer to Jovic’s conversion attempt was brilliant and deflected the ball into the post…
