Rolando Mandragora produced the goal of the Serie A weekend to rescue a point for Fiorentina, rifling home a stunning long-range strike as the Viola held Juventus to a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Saturday.
Filip Kostic had given the visitors the lead with a thunderbolt of his own in first-half stoppage time, but Mandragora answered three minutes after the restart with an even better effort, leaving Michele Di Gregorio with no chance. The draw keeps Fiorentina winless in Serie A this season, yet unbeaten under new coach Paolo Vanoli, while Juventus remain unbeaten under Luciano Spalletti but dropped two more points in the title race.
Two screamers light up the Franchi
The first half belonged to the goalkeepers and the woodwork until the final seconds. Juventus thought they had a penalty after 15 minutes when Dusan Vlahovic went down under Pablo Mari's challenge, but referee Daniele Doveri overturned his own decision after a VAR review ruled the Serbian had not been fouled.
Moise Kean, facing his former club, came closest to breaking the deadlock on 25 minutes, cutting inside and hammering an effort against the crossbar. Mandragora then went agonisingly close with a free-kick, before Vlahovic rounded David de Gea at the other end and could only find the side netting.
Just when a goalless first half seemed certain, Juventus struck. A cross from the right was only half cleared, and the ball fell to Kostic 25 yards out. The Serbian powered a low shot into the bottom corner of De Gea's net in the sixth minute of stoppage time to give the Old Lady the lead, as All Football reported in its match report.
But anything Kostic could do, Mandragora could do better. Three minutes into the second half, the former Juventus midfielder gathered a knockdown from Kean, set himself from even further out, and rifled an unstoppable finish into the top corner. Di Gregorio did not move. The Franchi erupted, and the man of the match award later went to the scorer, according to Flashscore.
VAR drama and De Gea's late heroics
The second half turned into a shooting gallery from distance. Manuel Locatelli, Kenan Yildiz and Kean all forced fine saves from outside the area before the hour mark, and Juventus looked the likelier winners as the game entered its final 15 minutes.
Fabio Miretti hit the side netting and Francisco Conceicao saw a strike from wide comfortably saved, but the best chance fell to Weston McKennie, whose header looked destined for the top corner until De Gea reacted superbly to tip it over the bar. That save preserved the point and underlined why the Spaniard remains one of the best shot-stoppers in the league.
Juventus finished with 17 shots to Fiorentina's 11, but Spalletti's side have now won just two of their last 13 matches across all competitions, and this was a third consecutive draw in all competitions for the new coach.
So what: two rebuilds still searching for lift-off
Neither side can be happy with a point, but for very different reasons. Fiorentina remain rooted to the foot of the table on nine points from 11 games, still without a league win all season. Yet there is something to build on: Vanoli's side are unbeaten in two league matches for the first time since the opening two rounds of the season, and they have now taken points off a genuine heavyweight after Vanoli's debut ended 2-2 at Genoa.
For Juventus, the maths is uglier. Spalletti's team are unbeaten in the league under their new coach, but draws are piling up: this followed stalemates against Sporting CP and Torino, and the gap to the early leaders is widening. Roma's 3-0 win over Sassuolo earlier on Saturday took the Giallorossi second, and every dropped point makes the title race harder to re-enter after the international break.
The contrast with last weekend is stark. Juventus beat Napoli 2-0 in Turin to announce Spalletti's arrival; a week later, they could not beat the bottom club. That is the story of their season so far: hard to beat, harder still to beat anyone.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Mandragora's screamer papered over the cracks for both clubs, but the truth is that neither Fiorentina nor Juventus are where they want to be. The Viola have spirit and a new coach's bounce, yet still no win; Juve have a new coach's unbeaten run, yet still no momentum. On this evidence, the international break cannot come soon enough for either dugout.
What did you make of Mandragora's strike — the goal of the Serie A weekend? Let us know in the comments.
