Juve blows lead in draw with lowly Fiorentina
Juventus missed the chance to close the gap on the early leaders in Serie A after it was held to a 1-1 draw by Fiorentina, which climbed off the bottom of the table with the point it earned.
A brilliant long-range strike from Filip Kostic before half-time was cancelled out by an equally fantastic effort from Rolando Mandragora shortly after the break as Luciano Spalletti's side was made to rue missed chances in the second half.
The first half was marked more by what happened in the stands rather than on the pitch, with Juventus's Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic, a former Fiorentina player, the target of discriminatory chants from the home fans.
Early in the match, the referee asked for an announcement to be made calling for a stop to the chants or the game would be interrupted.
When Vlahovic looked to have earned a penalty, the insults only increased.
The referee pointed to the spot when Vlahovic was pulled back by defender Pablo Mari but, after a check at the video assistant referee (VAR) monitor, the forward was judged to have fouled the Fiorentina man.
The insults resumed and the referee brought play to a halt, with Fiorentina captain Luca Ranieri appealing for common sense from the fans behind the goal.
Fformer Juventus forward Moise Kean almost put Fiorentina ahead when he cut in from the wing before letting fly with a shot which cannoned back off the crossbar.
Vlahovic then had the perfect chance to silence the home fans when sent through on goal but after rounding keeper David de Gea, he took the ball too wide and his effort ended up in the side netting.
A free-kick from Mandragora then went narrowly wide of the right post, but Kostic gave the visitors the lead in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage-time as the Serbia international found the bottom-left corner from close to 30 yards out.
Mandragora restored parity just three minutes into the second half, smashing the ball into the top-right corner and beyond the reach of Michele Di Gregorio, who was left with no chance.
De Gea was then called into action for Fiorentina, with the former Manchester United goalkeeper denying a weak attempt from Kenan Yildiz before tipping Weston McKennie's close-range header over the bar as the Viola held on for a draw.
"As an ambition you have to have the fight for the Scudetto," a disappointed Spalletti said. "I think I can make the players give more than what we showed today."
On the abuse aimed at Vlahovic, he added: ""Dusan has the kind of character where the more they get on his back the more he reacts positively."
Fiorentina is still without a win after 12 league games, while Juventus has won only two matches in its past 13 across Serie A and the UEFA Champions League.
