Gatti goal seals win as Juve keep pace with Milan in race for second

Juventus saw three first-half goals disallowed against Fiorentina but rallied to a 1-0 win thanks to Federico Gatti’s reaction finish, helping to fortify their hopes for UEFA Champions League football next season by ending a wretched run of domestic form.

The Old Lady had recorded just one league win since the end of January but with Fiorentina in a similarly barren Serie A spell, Juventus started strongly and had the ball in the net twice in the opening quarter of an hour.

Both were disallowed for clear offsides before Gatti turned home a Bremer header that ricocheted off the post, and Dusan Vlahovic thought he had doubled the lead against his former club later in the first half.

That was also chalked off for a much more marginal call and Fiorentina came back stronger in the second half with Wojciech Szczesny tipping one attempt onto the crossbar at full stretch and Lucas Beltran denied an equaliser only by his own team-mate.

Juventus held on for a valuable victory while Fiorentina’s own European hopes will now almost certainly rely on their fortunes in the UEFA Europa Conference League or Coppa Italia.

They were much the better side in the first half with Fiorentina taking a very relaxed approach in possession and giving away plenty of chances. Their defensive tactic of moving into a high line quickly after a set-piece did frustrate Juventus, but it felt like only a matter of time before one goal did stand and so it proved with Gatti’s winner.

A tactical shift at half-time saw Fiorentina start the second period without a second striker but they grew into the game with Christian Kouame and Nico Gonzalez enjoying more and more influence over proceedings alongside substitute Maxime Lopez.

However, they could not find what would have been a deserved equaliser and Max Allegri’s decision to shift his team deeper and deeper in the second half paid off.

Despite criticism from fans, Allegri has been clear throughout the season that Champions League qualification is Juventus’ main aim – with the Old Lady’s only permanent summer signing coming in the form of Timothy Weah for €11 million.

However, even that conservative target was looking under increasing threat as the wins failed to come – at kick-off time Juventus would have been sat 11th in a Serie A table based solely on the second half of the season.

A draw against Fiorentina would have put them just five points ahead of Roma with a trip to the capital still to come, plus games against fellow top-four teams AC Milan and Bologna. But with five games to play, that seven-point cushion looks much comfier.

Meanwhile, Fiorentina stay five points behind seventh-place Napoli but lead in their Coppa Italia semi-final and remain at large in the Conference League, so hope is far from lost.

The 25-year-old had been denied a goal by the crossbar in the build-up to Vlahovic’s first disallowed effort – and it would have stood too with the offside coming later in the play.

However, he was there when it mattered to turn home the decisive goal and also made some key defensive interventions.

JUVENTUS: Szczesny 7, Gatti 7, Bremer 7, Danilo 6, Cambiaso 5, McKennie 6, Locatelli 5, Rabiot 5, Kostic 7, Vlahovic 6, Chiesa 5. Subs: Yildiz, Iling-Junior, Alcaraz, Kean.

FIORENTINA: Terracciano 5, Kayode 7, Milenkovic 6, Ranieri 6, Biraghi 5, Bonaventua 5, Mandragora 6, Gonzalez 7, Barak 6, Kouame 7, Belotti 5. Subs: Lopez 7, Sottil 6, Beltran 6, Nzola 5, Dodo 6.

7’ – BALL IN THE NET! That’s one of the more blatant offsides you’ll see. It potentially doesn’t need the VAR check as Filip Kostic swung the ball in but Fiorentina cleared it easily. Weston McKennie hung around by the penalty spot and received Federico Gatti’s header back into the danger area, unfortunately the defensive backline hadn’t hung around and pushed up to leave him at least a yard offside. Still, it was a neat finish at least!

12’ – ANOTHER DISALLOWED GOAL!! It’s been a busy start for VAR! Juventus played it short from the corner and Kostic again lifted a cross in, and the Old Lady once again have the ball in the net – Gatti hit the bar before Dusan Vlahovic stuck it home – but once again it’s ruled out for clear offside. The Serbian wasn’t the problem but his shot (which was heading in either way) deflected off Bremer’s heel with the Brazilian well offside.

21’ – GOAL! JUVENTUS 1-0 FIORENTINA (GATTI): VAR won’t save them this time! It’s a deep outswinging corner to Bremer who was completely unchallenged and headed it back across goal. His attempt just strikes the post but it bounces straight to Gatti who makes no mistakes this time – 1-0!

32’ – GOAL!! JUVENTUS 2-0 FIORENTINA (VLAHOVIC): The former Fiorentina player puts them two ahead! It all started from that Gonzalez stumble, then Chiesa swung a cross aiming for McKennie at the far post. The American had no right to win the header against Rolando Mandragora but somehow managed it, nodding the ball across goal for Vlahovic to turn home!

33’ – GOAL DISALLOWED!!! Deary deary me, that’s embarrassing for Vlahovic after giving such a raucous celebration to his old club. It’s the third Juventus goal chalked off due to offside in just over half an hour, McKennie was hopping back and forth behind Mandragora but had seemingly timed his run correctly – apparently not!

60’ – SHOULD HAVE BEEN 2-0! How’s that not gone in? Kostic swung a dangerous cross-shot into the Fiorentina six-yard box and Nikola Milenkovic got a foot to it, but very nearly turned it into his own net. Luckily for the Serbian, it bounces just wide.

• Ex-Fiorentina strike force Chiesa and Vlahovic have still never scored against their former club.
• Fiorentina have now failed to score in seven consecutive trips to Juventus.