Fiorentina-Juventus moviola: Juventus claim penalties as Oulai and Kolo Muani are booked

The stakes before kickoff

Fiorentina and Juventus met at the Franchi in Florence on the evening of 8 November, with both sides needing a result. Fiorentina had moved out of the relegation zone after Paolo Vanoli replaced Grosso as coach. Juventus kept Luciano Spalletti and spent heavily in the transfer market, yet they sat seventh on the eve of the second international break. A defeat at the Franchi two years earlier had cost Thiago Motta his job at Juventus, and in May the Florentine side beat Juventus at the Stadium, knocking them out of the Champions League places in the penultimate round.

Before the game Vanoli pushed his players with a blunt message.

“For us, this has to be 'The' game.”

The two players expected to tip the balance were Franco Mastantuono for Fiorentina and Kerim Alajbegovic for Juventus, both 19 years old. Mastantuono scored in Fiorentina's win over Sassuolo, and Alajbegovic scored in Juventus's win over Napoli, the last two league victories for each side. Juventus were without Kenan Yildiz, whose return to the squad was expected in early December.

First-half decisions

Andrea Colombo refereed, assisted by Baccini and Ceccon, with Maresca as fourth official, Di Paolo at VAR and Meraviglia as AVAR. In the eighth minute Woltemade was pushed inside the Fiorentina area, but no penalty followed, and Colombo instead whistled a handball by the former Newcastle forward after he fell. At 11 minutes Oulai, a Fiorentina midfielder, stopped Kolo Muani with a block that the review judged punishable, and in the 12th minute Cabal was booked for holding Goncalves on the right flank. Oulai fouled Koopmeiners again in the 16th minute, and the review considered that foul correct despite the protests. At 28 minutes a possible missed penalty for Juventus came from a set piece, involving a Fiorentina player.

Second-half calls

The second half produced more contested moments. At 39 minutes Kolo Muani's shot was blocked by Viery, and Juventus appealed for handball, but the review noted that the defender's arms were behind his body. Oulai was booked in the 49th minute after fouling Douglas Luiz and protesting, then came close to a second yellow card two minutes later. The review judged that a foul by Zhegrova on Njie in the 63rd minute could have brought a yellow card, and that Njie's fall after contact with Lucumi was built on an almost non-existent touch. Kolo Muani was booked in the 73rd minute for protesting a foul by Celik on Mastantuono.

Late penalty claims

Juventus's appeals continued into the closing stages. In the 78th minute they claimed another penalty, this time for a handball by Joao Mario, whose arm controlled a loose ball. The review judged his arm too wide, even though the ball arrived unexpectedly. The review's headline also refers to a Dragusin goal that was disallowed. The 78th-minute claim is the latest call the review covers.