Fiorentina pile pressure on Motta with win over Juventus

Juventus were roundly beaten 3-0 at Fiorentina in their Serie A clash on Sunday, heaping further pressure on under-fire manager Thiago Motta after a second successive heavy defeat.

Juve have never featured in this season's title race and were knocked out of the Champions League by PSV Eindhoven last month followed by a Coppa Italia exit to Empoli.

Motta's side is fifth with 52 points, one point behind fourth-placed Bologna, who leapfrogged Juventus with a 5-0 thumping of visitors Lazio earlier on Sunday. Fiorentina's win lifts them one point ahead of AC Milan into eighth spot on 48 points.

Juve, after a 4-0 hammering by Atalanta last weekend, were two goals down early on in Florence to a team which had suffered four defeats in their last five league games.

The home side's Robin Gosens had his initial header from a corner blocked by Juventus defender Renato Veiga but when the ball came back to him his rifled shot was deflected off Khephren Thuram before nestling in the net for a 15th-minute lead.

Three minutes later, Nicolo Fagioli, on loan at Fiorentina from Juve since last month, played a through ball into Rolando Mandragora who shot first time from outside the area low into the far corner.

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It was a first half light on chances, with Fiorentina finding the net with their two efforts on target while Juventus failed to test home goalkeeper David de Gea.

"Today we didn't create any danger despite having the ball and the opponents scored at the slightest chance," Motta told reporters.

Juve began on the attack after the break but a weak header by Veiga was easily gathered by De Gea and the visitors were further behind eight minutes into the second half.

Albert Gudmundsson collected a pass from Fagioli and had plenty of space and time to take the ball forward before drilling his shot from outside the box into the bottom corner.

Ex-Juventus forward Moise Kean had the ball in the net minutes later, but his goal was ruled out for offside as Fiorentina threatened to run riot against a toothless Juve.

"We struggled to react, they are two bad defeats," Motta said. "We had played well against Atalanta for 45 minutes. Today after the first goal we continued to play but without creating difficulties for the opponent."

The home fans were in fine voice with victory assured against their biggest rivals, and there were ironic chants of 'Where is Dusan?' after Fiorentina's former striker Dusan Vlahovic remained on the Juventus bench.

Juve also lost the Italian Super Cup semifinal in January and face a battle to qualify for the Champions League, the only objective left in a disappointing first season under Motta.

"Tonight we put Juventus in difficulty. It was a magical night. We're happy to have given joy to our fans," Fiorentina manager Raffaele Palladino told Sky Sport.