FOOTBALL – Fiorentina romped to a 3-0 home win over Juventus in their Serie A clash yesterday, heaping further pressure on the visitors’ under-fire manager Thiago Motta after his side suffered a second successive heavy defeat.
Juve, following their 4-0 hammering at home by Atalanta last weekend, were two goals down early on in Florence after Robin Gosens put the hosts ahead in the 15th minute and Rolando Mandragora doubled their lead three minutes later.
There was no way back for Juventus when Albert Gudmundsson put Fiorentina 3-0 up eight minutes into the second half and Motta’s position will now be under serious threat.
Fiorentina’s win lifts them one point ahead of AC Milan into eighth spot on 48 points while Juve are fifth with 52, one point behind fourth-placed Bologna, who leapfrogged Motta’s side with a 5-0 thumping of visitors Lazio earlier yesterday.
Meanwhile, Inter Milan extended their lead at the top of Serie A to three points with a 2-0 win at third-placed title rivals Atalanta as both sides finished with 10 men.
Inter moved to 64 points ahead of Napoli, who have 61 after being held to a 0-0 draw at second-from-bottom Venezia earlier yesterday, while Atalanta remain on 58 points.
An intense opening half ended goalless, with Inter’s Marcus Thuram hitting the upright and Atalanta’s Mario Pasalic forcing goalkeeper Yann Sommer into a save from a header.
Carlos Augusto opened the scoring when he headed in from a corner nine minutes after the break. The hosts had midfielder Ederson sent off for two quick bookings in the 81st before Lautaro Martinez sealed the win three minutes from time.