Juventus end four-game winless run with tight victory over Fiorentina
Top of Serie A as recently as late January, a downturn in form has put even Champions League qualification in jeopardy for Juventus, but that didn’t show as they got off to a storming start.
They looked particularly dangerous from set pieces, and Gatti hit the bar from one chance before giving his side the lead on 20 minutes.
Bremer rose to loop a header against the post, but Gatti was lurking to tap in on the rebound for his fourth of the campaign.
Themselves enduring a poor run in Serie A of late, Fiorentina showed very little in the final third and continued to invite pressure from their opponents.
It looked as though the inevitable had happened when Dušan Vlahović smashed in Weston McKennie’s header on the half-hour, but a retrospective offside call denied the Serbian his first Juventus goal against his former employers.
Remarkably, that was Juve’s third disallowed strike of the half, and Vincenzo Italiano made changes at the break in an attempt to take advantage of their misfortune.
Fiorentina were consequently much improved in attack, and half chances began to go their way. Nicolás González was in the thick of the action, and his curling effort was wonderfully turned onto the bar by the fingertips of Wojciech Szczęsny.
Lucas Beltrán would almost certainly have had a late equaliser for Fiorentina if not for a block from his unwitting team-mate M'Bala Nzola, and Juventus defended valiantly to see out the victory.
Although it was just a second win in 10 Serie A games, Massimiliano Allegri’s side remained in the driving seat to finish in the top three, while Fiorentina’s European hopes were dented after a fourth successive winless league outing.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Federico Gatti (Juventus)
