FLORENCE - Fiorentina fought back from a goal down to claim a point after a 1-1 draw against Juventus at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. The away side had taken the lead early on through Arkadiusz Milik but Christian Kouamé equalised in the first half after a great counterattack. Luka Jović then missed a penalty on a day Fiorentina feel they may have got more out of it.

 Despite not starting the better of the two sides, it was Juventus who opened the scoring inside the opening ten minutes. Juan Cuadrado dribbled inbehind Cristiano Biraghi and delivered a deep cross towards the back post. Waiting unmarked was Filip Kostić, who directed the ball back across goal and into the path of Milik who bundle the ball from close range.

 Looking to hit back instantly Fiorentina came forward through Riccardo Sottil who combined with Antonín Barák The ball was eventually delivered into the ball where Kouame got his head to the ball , but it was straight into the ground and simple for Mattia Perin to deal with.

 Cuadrado then came to the rescue for Juventus as he got back at the last minute to deny Youssef Maleh at the back post with a heroic block.

 Fiorentina’s pressure so was soon rewarded as they equalised with just under half an hour played. The goal actually game initially after a good attack for Juventus that saw Ángel Di María pick out Weston McKennie breaking through but the ball was eventually scrambled away for a corner.

 It was then from the resulting corner that Fiorentina broke forward to score. A strong punch from Pietro Terracciano set the counterattack in motion. Sottil picked up the loose ball and then sent an inch perfect through ball to Kouame. The Ivory Coast international then kept his composure to slot the ball past Perin for the equaliser, which was soon confirmed after a VAR pause.

 On the cusp of half time the home side were awarded a penalty after Leandro Paredes was adjudged to have handle the ball inside the box. Jović stepped up but save his effort comeback off the inside of the post and away to safety to the delight of the travelling Juventus fans.

 Three minutes into the second half I Viola had another chance to take the lead for the first time in the game when Sottil made a break. His pass picked out Barak with space but he was denied by a block from close range.

 The home side controlled the majority of possession and territory and were able to fashion a couple of half chances.

 First, Barak played the ball inside to Jonathan Ikoné, who fresh onto the pitch as a substitute, managed to drop his shoulder and escape the Juventus defence, but skewed his shot over.

 Baraka himself then was unable to get the ball under control after he had found himself in the box in a promising position.

 Late on, Sofyan Amrabati had a strike from distance that Perin did well to tip over the crossbar and ensure both teams would finish with a point from their afternoon’s work.

jd