An unfortunate stoppage-time goal from Lorenzo Venuti gifted Juventus a 1-0 win over Fiorentina in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final on Wednesday as Dusan Vlahovic returned to his former club but failed to make an impact .
Vlahovic moved to Juve from Fiorentina as part of a deal that made him the costliest signing in Europe's January transfer window, with every touch of him by fans in Florence, who apparently called for the Serbia striker to leave. Didn't forgive
In a hostile environment, the home side had better first-half chances, with Jonathan Icahn drilling wide in the middle of the opening period as Juve and Vlahovic were unable to threaten at all in the attacking areas.
Vlahovic's moment came early in the second half, but he could not throw the ball over Fiorentina goalkeeper Pietro Teraciano when he scored.
Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri said: "He [Vlahovic] has to improve playing with the team and tonight he gets along better with his teammates."
"Winning in Florence was not easy because we had a lot of players missing [with injury]. We have shown a great sign of maturity.
"Slowly we are improving and the team is gaining more and more confidence."
Fiorentina looked most likely to find a winner to move to Turin for next month's second leg, with Icahn refusing the post from his clear opening, having unfortunately struck, right in the last.
Juan Cuadrado's cross was aimed at Vlahovic, but it was in the wrong direction and Venuti could only watch in horror as the ball bounced off his knee and rolled into the net, desperate to give Juve a win, which they completed. were not entitled in any way.