Juventus player ratings vs Fiorentina: Bentancur impresses again, Ronaldo streak continues
By John Vaccaro
Things got off to a rough start against Fiorentina, but Juve was able to find their footing and eventually secured a dominant victory.
Fiorentina created some dangerous chances early in the match, but luckily for Juventus they were unable to take advantage. This gave Juve some time to adjust to their return to the 4-2-3-1 and the absence of Miralem Pjanic and take control of the match.
That control came in the 31st when Rodrigo Bentancur and Paulo Dybala played a quick 1-2 and Bentancur dribbled himself into enough space to get a shot off. His left-footed shot beat Alban Lafont to get Juve their first goal of the match.
Their next goal would eventually come in the 69th minute, but it was a bit unorthodox and came from an unexpected player. After Fiorentina failed to fully clear a ball Juan Cuadrado headed it back into the box where Giorgio Chiellini (yeah, Giorgio Chiellini) tracked it over his shoulder and volleyed it toward the goal. Alban Lafont was able to get a hand on it and seemed to have kept it out, but when the ball landed the spin on it carried it back into the net.
They weren’t done yet though, as later on in the match Mario Mandzukic attempted to send in a cross that hit the arm of Edimilison, giving Juventus a penalty. Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to take the penalty in the 79th minute and didn’t waste the opportunity to increase his goal tally, sealing Juve’s 3-0 win.
GK: Wojciech Szczesny 7.5/10
Wojciech Szczesny had his second impressive performance of the week on Saturday. This time around Szczesny didn’t make one incredible saves, but comfortably saved 5 shots, the second most saves he’s needed to make in a match this season. He survived some dicey situations that defensive miscues and poor passes put him in and confidently distributed the ball from the back. Overall, it was another good day for Szczesny.