Juan Cuadrado struck late for Juventus as they overcame a ten-man Fiorentina 1-0 on Saturday evening.
The hosts were poor for the majority of the contest before Nikola Milenkovic’s sending off with 20 minutes remaining gave them a new lease of life. After Fiorentina had looked in complete control, Juve began to sustain pressure on the visitors and they came close through Federico Chiesa on a couple of occasions.
90’+1 | SPACCA LA PORTA JUAAAAAAAAAN, DA POSIZIONE IMPOSSIBILEEEEEEE! 🕺
— JuventusFC (@juventusfc) November 6, 2021
GOL PAZZESCOOOOOOOOO DI @CUADRADO E SIAMO AVANTI!#FINOALLAFINE. SEMPRE. ⚪⚫#JuveFiorentina [1-0] #ForzaJuve
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Despite Juve’s improvement, the contest seemed destined for a stalemate. That was before substitute Juan Cuadrado conjured something out of nothing to beat Pietro Terracciano at his near post to hand the Bianconeri a much-needed three points.
Here are the Juventus player ratings from Saturday’s win.
Goalkeeper & Defenders
Mattia Perin (GK) – 6/10 – While Fiorentina controlled the bout for the most part, they rarely threatened Perin’s goal. In fact, Juve’s reserve goalkeeper didn’t have a save to make. The Italian was tidy with his feet, too.
Danilo (RB) – 7/10 – The Brazilian defended well from set-pieces and was diligent against Fiorentina’s impressive left-hand side. He wasn’t sucked in by the infield drifts of creator Riccardo Saponara, sticking to his task dutifully at right-back. This was another solid performance from Danilo.
Daniele Rugani (CB) – 6/10 – A late inclusion after Giorgio Chiellini injured himself in the warm-up. While there were a few hairy moments with the ball, Rugani was largely fine throughout despite being booked towards to end of the contest for a foul on Dusan Vlahovic. The Italian defended the front post well when Fiorentina crossed from the left.
Matthijs de Ligt (CB) – 8/10 – De Ligt totally dominated his duel with Vlahovic. Shadowing the rather static Serbian throughout, the Dutchman made light work of the contest. He feasted on hopeful punts into the forward, with De Ligt superb in the air throughout. When Fiorentina attempted to find Vlahovic’s feet, the Juve defender hassled and harried until the Viola star was dispossessed. It was all too easy for the excellent De Ligt.
Alex Sandro (LB) – 4/10 – We saw barely anything from the Brazilian in the attacking third, and was beaten on a couple of occasions by the dynamic Alvaro Odriozola before being replaced at the break.