MILAN: Juventus remained two points off top spot after an early goal by Fabio Miretti gave them a 1-0 win at Fiorentina on Sunday, their fourth consecutive Serie A victory.

Midfielder Miretti put Juventus in front in the 10th minute, converting a cross from Filip Kostic at the near post for his first goal for the club.

“I’m happy because I was looking for it for a long time and finally it’s arrived. I hope others are going to come,” said Miretti to DAZN.

Juve, who have lost only once this season are two points behind league leaders Inter Milan, and four points above third-placed AC Milan.

The match in Florence went ahead despite the Tuscany region being severely hit by Storm Ciaran and the resulting flooding, which left seven people dead and one missing on Saturday after rivers burst their banks following torrential rain.

Some Fiorentina fans boycotted the match in protest that it had not been postponed because of the bad weather.

It was a classic Juve performance under Allegri, whose team were content to sit back and soak up wave after wave of attack from their profligate hosts and try to strike on the break.

Juve have kept six clean sheets in as many matches since shipping four goals at Sassuolo in late September and without European football they look Inter’s most credible rivals for this season’s Scudetto, with the pair meeting in Turin after this month’s international break.

“You also have to win games on the back foot, with good defending,” said Allegri, who insisted his team are not looking at the title. “You always have to look forwards, but that doesn’t mean the Scudetto. Inter, Milan and Napoli are all better equipped.”

Fiorentina, who could have moved up to fifth with a win, are eighth, level on 17 points with AS Roma who earned a dramatic 2-1 home win against Lecce thanks to stoppage-time goals by Sardar Azmoun and Romelu Lukaku.

Lecce forward Pontus Almqvist put the visitors in front in the 72nd minute before Azmoun levelled for Roma with a powerful header and Lukaku sealed the win when he fired left-footed into the top corner.

Cagliari moved out of the relegation zone with their second straight win, 2-1 against fellow promoted outfit Genoa.

Claudio Ranieri’s side sit a point ahead of Verona who are just inside the relegation zone after falling to a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Monza.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2023