March 03, (THEWILL) – Juventus struggled in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final against Fiorentina on Wednesday, but a late own goal from Lorenzo Venuti gave them a 1-0 victory.
Fiorentina dominated the first 15 minutes of the game, and they should have taken the lead. Giacomo Bonaventura could not keep his cool in front of an empty net after Mattia Perin’s weak clearance landed at his feet.
After that, Jonathan Ikone squandered his own opportunity to score. The January signing raced down the right wing and fired a shot across Perin’s goal, but it sailed wide.
After only a few minutes into the second period, Ikone had the first chance to score in the half. But, he tried to turn inside Mattia De Sciglio and bend a strike into the top corner, only to see it strick the outside of the post and fly wide.
It was one of a relatively modest amount of opportunities in the second 45 minutes. Fiorentina were comfortably ahead, but they failed to capitalise on their advantage, shooting wide or overhitting passes in the final third.
Fiorentina had 21 shots on goal against Juventus’ six, but 15 of them were off target in a game that was a masterclass in how not to score.
As the clock ticked down, Juventus emerged victorious in the most unlikely of circumstances. Juan Cuadrado’s cross was poor, but it was deflected off Lorenzo Venuti, whose frantic lunge was unable to prevent the ball from crossing the line, giving Juventus the win against the odds.
Fiorentina must overcome their disappointment before facing Verona in Serie A on Sunday at home. On Sunday, Juventus plays at home against Spezia.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
