Fiorentina sealed a berth in the UEFA Europa Conference League with a 2-0 win over rivals Juventus in their final match of the season. On the other hand, Juventus’s disastrous season ended with a whimper; the Bianconeri finished with two losses in three and went through the entire campaign without winning a game by more than two goals.
La Viola were the stronger of the two sides during the first half, for which they were rewarded on the stroke of halftime. Alfred Duncan, the rarest of goalscorers, gave the home side the lead by poking the loose ball past Mattia Perin after Giacomo Bonaventura had caused chaos inside the box.
Juventus’s retaliation fell flat, but Fiorentina had to wait until the 90th minute to confirm the win, which Nico Gonzalez did from the spot after Leonardo Bonucci had tripped Lucas Torreira inside the box.
Elsewhere, Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio played out a 3-3 draw with Igor Tudor’s Hellas Verona, despite trailing 2-0, just 14 minutes after the start. Giovanni Simeone gave Verona the lead with a header at the back post in the sixth minute, which Kevin Lasagna compounded by scoring a second from outside the box before Jovane Cabral pulled a goal back for the Biancocelesti in the 16th.
Cabral, starting up top in the absence of Serie A’s Forward of the Year Ciro Immobile, smashed the ball into the top corner upon collecting it from Felipe Anderson.
Anderson brought Lazio level in the 29th minute by firing in from the rebound of his own blocked shot. The Brazilian, then, combined with Pedro Rodriguez in the 62nd minute to put Lazio ahead – which the latter did from the center of the box with a tap-in. But, Verona fought back and drew the tie 3-3 in the 76th minute through Justin Hongla, who scored a yard away from the goalline.
Nevertheless, with Lazio’s position already secured, the dropped points did not matter. Sarri’s men celebrated qualifying for the Europa League and finishing above rivals AS Roma for the third successive season.
