Rome (Italy): Adrien Rabiot’s header helped Juventus carve out a precious 1-0 victory over archrivals Fiorentina in Serie A, as each side had one goal disallowed.
Juve was back on track by eliminating Lazio in the Coppa Italia and dominating Salernitana 3-0 last round and headed into Sunday’s game with Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic starting upfront to face their former club, reports news agency Xinhua.
In the match played on Sunday night, both sides created a couple of chances but it was Juve that broke the deadlock in the 34th minute as Mattia De Sciglio’s cross was blocked into the path of Angel Di Maria, whose pass over the top found Rabiot to steer in a header before goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano clawed it out.
Vlahovic thought he had doubled the lead on the hour mark but it was wiped out due to offside.
It sparked controversy in the dying minutes as Manuel Locatelli’s acrobatic clearance turned into an assist for Gaetano Castrovilli who followed to fire in a missile out of the box, but it was also cancelled out due to Luca Ranieri’s foul in the build-up.
With the win, Juve climbed to ninth with 29 points, but still have a 12-point gap to fourth.
Elsewhere, Napoli took revenge on Cremonese for their Coppa Italia exit with a 3-0 drubbing thanks to goals from birthday boy Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Victor Osimhen and Eljif Elmas.
With the sixth consecutive win, Napoli lead the table with a commanding 16-point advantage over second-placed Inter Milan who visit Sampdoria on Monday.
Also on Sunday, Monza beat Bologna 1-0 on Giulio Donati’s solo effort, while Udinese shared the spoils with Sassuolo at 2-2.
–IANS