90min

Juventus 1-0 Fiorentina: Player ratings as Juan Cuadrado delivers much needed win

By Jamie Spencer

Juan Cuadrado made all the difference for Juventus off the bench
Juan Cuadrado made all the difference for Juventus off the bench / Chris Ricco/GettyImages
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Juventus secured only their fifth win of the season in Serie A as Juan Cuadrado scored a dramatic stoppage time winner against former club Fiorentina.

It was far from a vintage performance, with too many of their star names quiet for large parts of the game in Turin. Massimiliano Allegri's side didn’t create enough meaningful chances and managed only three shots in target over the whole game.

For Juve’s lack of inventiveness going forward, they also weren’t really tested defensively.

Deep into the second half, the Old Lady were eventually handed a golden opportunity to finally make the breakthrough when Nikola Milenkovic was shown a second yellow card and sent off for a reckless challenge on Federico Chiesa.

The winger, who had been guilty of not doing much, seemed to burst into life after that. He soon crashed an effort off the crossbar, while Juve did also have the ball in the net in the final 10 minutes when Alvaro Morata turned in a cross from substitute Cuadrado – but the offside flag ruled it out.

Cuadrado only had just over 10 minutes on the pitch, but the Colombian gave Juve extra life in attack. When he did get the 91st minute winner it was all his own work, taking the ball to the outside on the right side of the penalty area and flashing a low shot from a narrow angle across the goal.

That was his milestone 40th Serie A goal, with half of those coming in Fiorentina colours.

Juventus player ratings

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

Matthijs de Ligt was strong at the back
Matthijs de Ligt was strong at the back / Emilio Andreoli/GettyImages

Mattia Perin (GK) - 6/10 - Given the nod with Wojciech Szczesny missing.

Danilo (RB) - 6/10 - Tackled well and saw plenty of the ball.

Daniele Rugani (CB) - 6/10 - Came through his first Serie A appearance of the season without any problems.

Matthijs de Ligt (CB) - 7/10 - Good on the ball and strong in the air.

Alex Sandro (LB) - 5/10 - Taken off at half-time after not doing a great deal.

2. Midfielders

Federico Chiesa was quite until late on
Federico Chiesa was quite until late on / ISABELLA BONOTTO/GettyImages

Federico Chiesa (RM) - 6/10 - Quiet for large chunks of the game, but rattled a spectacular effort off the crossbar and was much livelier towards the end. Probably too little too late from him.

Weston McKennie (CM) - 6/10 - Not great with his passing but won the ball back for his team multiple times.

Manuel Locatelli (CM) - 5/10 - A bit too passive to do anything of note.

Adrien Rabiot (LM) - 5/10 - Okay and that's about it.

3. Forwards

Alvaro Morata
Alvaro Morata asked questions of Fiorentina / Chris Ricco/GettyImages

Paulo Dybala (ST) - 5/10 - Another Juve attacker who was too quiet.

Alvaro Morata (ST) - 6/10 - Had looked the most likely to score until Chiesa piped up. Had the ball in the net late on but it was ruled offside.

4. Substitutes

Luca Pellegrini (LB) - 5/10 - Didn't offer an improvement on Sandro.

Juan Cuadrado (RM) - 7/10 - A huge impact when he came on. The dramatic stoppage time winner was all his own work.

Kaio Jorge (ST) - N/A - Not enough time for the youngster.

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