20 September 2017
Juventus made it five Serie A wins in a row to sit on a perfect 15 points in the league after Mario Mandzukic’s diving header in the 52nd minute proved the difference against ten-man Fiorentina at the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday night.
A tightly contested first-half only saw one chance of any note, as Gonzalo Higuain went close with a deflected effort.
Five minutes into the second period, La Viola’s Milan Badelj picked up the first of his two yellow cards on the night after a late challenge on Andrea Barzagli, who was captaining the Bianconeri for the first time in Serie A.
Two minutes later, Juve finally found the breakthrough as a cross from Juan Cuadrado from the right-hand side was touched on by Higuain, before a diving header from Mandzukic gave La Vecchia Signora their lead.
Then came a moment of confusion as referee, Daniele Doveri appeared to point to the spot for a Juventus penalty after a foul on Blaise Matuidi, following a powerful run from the French midfielder. However, after consulting with VAR, Doveri changed his mind and awarded a free-kick to the Bianconeri just on the outside of the box, with a second yellow card shown to Badelj and the Croatian was given his marching orders.
Despite the numerical advantage, Juve found it hard to break down the visitors and add to their lead, with Fiorentina blocking two goal-bound efforts from Mandzukic.
Stefano Pioli’s men tried to rally and created several chances towards the end of the match, but the Bianconeri dug in and held firm to ensure a 1-0 victory to maintain their perfect start to this Serie A season.
Next up for Juventus is the Turin derby against local rivals Torino on Saturday 23 September, 20.45 CEST kick-off.
