Rome: Juventus stretched their unbeaten record in the Italian Serie A football to 44 games with a goalless draw against hosts Fiorentina.
The Viola, as Firoentina are known, gave the Old Lady, as Juventus are commonly callesd, a stern test as they had several penalty appeals turned down in the first half and Stevan Jovetic rattled the crossbar with a header, reports Xinhua.
Fiorentina had the best chances in the second half too, but were unable to find a way past the defending champions.
Fiorentina head coach Vincenzo Montella is proud of his side`s performance against Juventus and claimed "we probably deserved to win."
"I am definitely satisfied with my lads," he said. "We probably deserved to win if we had been a little more incisive or perhaps fortunate.
"I must compliment the team and the fans, as it was a wonderful evening of sport. We faced an excellent team with open and attacking football. It`s a shame we didn`t win, but we hold on to the performance and the character of this Fiorentina," the former Roma striker said.
Juventus stand-in coach Massimo Carrera credited Fiorentina for forcing a bad performance out of Juventus.
"It isn`t always necessary to crush your opponents, as at times you also have to be good at containing them," he said.
"Fiorentina deserve a lot of credit, as they ran hard for 90 minutes and played very well. We were unable to do what we wanted to.
"We knew Fiorentina would put in the performance of a lifetime, so it was a show of strength for us to keep them quiet and maintain the clean sheet," he said.
Adam Ljajic was involved in most of the Viola`s attacks in the first half, and he wanted a penalty on two occasions when he went to ground inside the penalty area - but he was given a dressing down by the referee each time.
Ljajic only had himself to blame for not giving the home team the lead in the 41st minute when he dragged his shot wide of the post with only Gianluigi Buffon to beat.
Only seconds earlier, Jovetic beat Buffon with a header, but the crossbar kept the ball out.
Fiorentina held the upper hand in the second half too with Juan Cuadrado going the closest to breaking the deadlock in the 73rd minute with a low shot which was just inches wide of the left-hand upright.
IANS
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.