Juventus 3-1 Fiorentina
Scorers: Ilicic pen 3 (F), Cuadrado 6 (J), Mandzukic 81 (J), Dybala 91 (J)
Serie A Week 16 – Sunday, 13th December- 19:45 GMT – Juventus Stadium
Juventus came from a goal down to rout Fiorentina 3-1 and move another place up the table
Full match report to follow
6 Positives:
Mandzukic – Scoring goals, creating goals and perhaps more importantly, pressing the Fiorentina defence all night, running up and down the pitch until he was subbed off. I thought of him as a static, Trezeguet type of striker – Allegri has him running, defending and scoring goals. Another great/Vital performance.
Six wins in a row – From languishing in 18th, to a gradual, steady ascent up the table into the top 4 again and a mere 6 points from the top. A confidence inspiring win ahead of the xmas break. This Juve is starting to come together in a big way.
Dybala – What more is there to be said ? 8 goals, 3 assists and counting. The young striker has fitted in perfectly and is now leading the attack in his own way. The partnership with Mandzukic is paying dividends because of Allegri’s persistence and courage to stick with it. They’ve scored or assisted a goal in 6 of Juve’s last games.
Allegri – Got it right again. I sound like a broken record, but all the talk was of Sousa and his new look Fiorentina – A 3-4-2-1- system and La Viola’s impressive record. Allegri outschooled the young coach and earned a precious 3 points with Juve having far less possession on the night.
Bonucci – Kalinic ? What Kalinic? the one that spent the night in Leo’s back pocket? Ahhh. Another defensive masterclass from the best of Juve’s defenders. Strong. Smart. Quick. Preemptive. He had it all tonight.
Marchisio – Didn’t put a foot wrong – completed all 41 of his passes, 100% Thoroughly impressive given the opposition!
Statistics:
Man of the Match: Paulo Dybala
Flop of the Match: N/A
Corners: 3
Pass Accuracy: 79%
Shots on Target: 6
Total Shots: 16
Ball Possession: 38%
Formation: 3-5-2
Formation:
Lineups:
Juventus: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Cuadrado, Khedira (Sturaro 61), Marchisio, Pogba, Evra (Alex Sandro 76); Mandzukic (Morata 85), Dybala
Fiorentina: Tatarusanu; Tomovic, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Astori; Bernardeschi, Badelj, Vecino (Rossi 85), Alonso (Pasqual 85); Borja Valero, Ilicic (Mati Fernandez 85); Kalinic
Ref: Orsato
Poll:
[socialpoll id=”2315919″]
Goals:
Juventus 1-1 Fiorentina (Cuadrado)
Juventus 2-1 Fiorentina (Mandzukic )
Juventus 3-1 Fiorentina (Dybala)
What. A. Game. Hard to put into words – So valuable a win – 3 points against a team that were rampant up until tonight is HUGE for us.
napoli v Roma went just the way we needed it to.
Team is comign together right at the right time……argh, too much to say but this sums it uo
FINO ALLA FINE, FORZA JUVE !
Yeah this was a great round for us, gaining the full 3points on Fiorentina, 2points on both Napoli and Roma, surpassing Roma!
Too bad Inter didnt drop any points or it would have been a perfect night.
In any case, second spot is so very possible now, one game can get us there! First Place will take some more time, going to need Inter to let up here and there.. Time enough for that though!
Solid performance, brilliant result. We are slowly becoming a winning machine and against most if not all sides in Serie A, with our current momentum, the quality will be too much to survive.
I am still not in any way sold on the rotation policy between wingbacks for Sandro/Lichsteiner is far more potent than Evra/Cuadrado, but its working. Khedira was quiet yet emerged unscathed! hohohoho! Which is a positive. Sturaro has found good form in the Germ’s absence, and giving Big Sami a decent portion of matches before bringing on the youngster seems a good idea. Mandzukic is moving up the gears and whilst some seem a little surprised, I simply see him returning to near the heights of the form of the last few years. He is not just a battering ram, he is a trojan in the work-rate scores. Never stops battering.
One day soon, we are going to see a game where everything goes right for Dybala and he single-handedly destroys an opponent. Still finding his shooting boots, but every other facet of his game is developing and shining.
Its curious that to regain our balance we have returned to the 3-5-2. Yet it is rarely that specific a system, as Sandro is far more naturally a left midfielder and Cuadrado is more naturally a right winger.
Allegri’s tactical acumen was in fine form. Soak up the pressure, cede possession, give them the ball and block off their creative lines. Worked a dam treat. He is more tactically astute than many give him credit for, generally those who focus on wins and nothing else.
The thing to focus upon is that we have won 6 on the trot, are still finding our identity, have players to return to full match sharpness, the big teams to play at home next year and are creating far more chances per game than we are conceding.
Plenty of reasons to be cheerful.