Second Placed Juve Held 3-3 At Home By Fiorentina
TURIN, Italy, Jan 6 (Reuters)(DS) - Second placed Juventus were held to a
3-3 draw at home to Fiorentina in an enthralling Serie A match on Saturday.
Juve trailed by two goals after just 18 minutes but fought their way into
the lead, with Fillipo Inzaghi on target twice, but were then denied three
points when Enrico Chiesa grabbed a 64th minute equaliser for Fiorentina.
The result means leaders AS Roma could move eight points clear of Juve
should they win at Atalanta on Sunday.
Fiorentina took the lead in the fifth minute when Chiesa picked up Michele
Paramatti's loose clearance and swiftly struck the ball past Juve 'keeper
Edwin Van der Sar.
Fatih Terim's side then doubled their advantage 13 minutes later when a low
Paolo Vanoli cross found Nuno Gomes unmarked at the back post and the
Portuguese striker fired high into the top corner.
Juve quickly began to force the pace and Fiorentina's Italian international
goalkeeper Francesco Toldo did well to keep out a dangerous cross-shot from
Gianluca Pessotto.
But Toldo was beaten in the 33rd minute when Antonio Conte drove home after
Moreno Torricelli had failed to clear effectively a Parmatti cross.
Juventus were level four minutes after the break when Toldo brought down
Inzaghi inside the area and the Juve striker rose to convert the spot kick.
Inzaghi then put Juve ahead eight minutes later with a stunning volley from
20 metres out after another good piece of work from Paramatti on the right
flank.
But Chiesa, lively throughout the night and in a rich vein of form, gave
Fiorentina a deserved point with a perfectly placed and powerfully struck
free-kick.
Earlier Vicenza beat Bari 1-0 in their relegation battle, Giacomo Dicara
scoring the winner in the 11th minute.
