Sottil rescues important points for Fiorentina against Juventus

Khephren Thuram’s brace was not enough to secure a win for Juventus as the Turin giant could not secure maximum points against Fiorentina in a four-goal thriller. 

Thuram had a memorable game, scoring the first brace of his Juve career, but Moise Kean and a late Riccardo Sottil volley prevented them from finishing the year with a win.

A win was important for both sides. Both went into the game on 31 points, and Juventus had recorded six draws already in the top flight, while the Viola had a game in hand.

Juve ended their run of four straight draws by beating Monza last week, and we were on the verge of victory before Viola secured a late draw.

Fiorentina had recorded eight defeats in a row before two consecutive defeats to Bologna and Udinese. 

Vlahovic, who was playing against his former club, went close with a glancing header just wide from the Francisco Conceicao cross.

Meanwhile, there was a two-minute stoppage as a statement was read over the speakers, warning Fiorentina fans to stop their racist chants towards the Serbia international.

Juventus went ahead when Khephren Thuram surged forward from midfield, found a gap in the center of the Viola defense, and drilled low into the near bottom corner.

The visitors restored parity through former Juventus striker Moise Kean, who scored with a header from Yacine Adli’s cross as Pierre Kalulu mistimed the jump, which allowed the Italian striker to score with the glancing header from six yards. He refused to celebrate against his old club, waving an apology to the crowd as a mark of respect and got applauded by Juve fans.

David De Gea, who made an astonishing save at the near post on Vlahovic’s rocket from close range, could only watch as the Locatelli screamer flashed inches past the top corner.

Thuram opened his Juve goal career with a brace to restore the hosts’ advantage straight after the restart. Danilo Cataldi’s deflected  Koopmeiners’ through ball landed kindly for the midfielder, who swept the ball into the far bottom corner with the inside of his right boot from eight yards.

Kean was closed down by Gatti, forcing him to fire straight at Michele Di Gregorio after a Lucas Beltran flick, while De Gea made another great reaction save on Federico Gatti’s free header from a corner.

Fiorentina restored parity in the final minutes. Andrea Cambiaso slipped when trying to clear, leading to a long Fiorentina attack that culminated in the Kean effort charged down from nine yards, a ricochet landing kindly for Riccardo Sottil to smash in the volley.

De Gea stopped Juve from scoring a winner as the Spaniard parried the ball with an outstretched boot at the near post to hold on to an essential draw at the Turin stadium.