TORONTO -- Stevan Jovetic’s early goal stood up to give Fiorentina a 1-0 win over Juventus in the Toronto Soccer Showcase, keeping the Torino-based club winless on its North American tour.
Juventus had hoped that crossing the Atlantic would return the club to its winning ways after finishing seventh in a forgettable domestic season. But the change of scenery and the adoration from thousands of black-and-white jersey-clad fans that congregated at Rogers Centre in Toronto, a city that has long been a hotbed of support for Juventus, did little to help the team.
The most storied team in Italian football, who on Sunday lost 3-1 to a mainly reserve squad of New York Red Bulls, couldn’t respond to Fiorentina’s lone goal and fell for the second time in three days
Both Italian clubs had numerous chances to score in a game that featured the creative passing that the Italian Serie A is known for.
Fan favorite Alessandro Del Piero, who received the loudest pre-game ovation, and Brazilian player Amauri showed brilliant flashes on offense. And it would be the latter who, in the 10th minute, missed a clear opportunity to score from a Diego Da Cunha cross that floated across the front of the goal.
Momentum quickly swung the other way, though, as the Fiorentina duo of Jovetic and young Senegalese striker Khouma Babacar, began troubling the Juventus defense and goalkeeper Alexander Manninger.
Jovetic would make his presence felt early on. In the 17th minute, the owner of 11 Serie A goals in the 2009-10 campaign, drove a 25 yarder past Manninger, who stepped in under the posts while Gianluigi Buffon is away with Italy preparing for the World Cup.
Babacar, who was carted off in the 60th minute with a lower body injury, nearly increased Fiorentina’s goal count to two as he smashed the ball against the crossbar only a couple of minutes later.
In the second half, amid jeers and whistles from the crowd, Fiorentina decided to slow the pace of the game and bunkered down on defense to keep the lead.
Unwilling to give up, Juventus would regroup to mount a series of attacks that were ultimately unsuccessful.
Fiorentina’s win capped off a tour that saw them go 1-0-1 after drawing the Impact 1-1 in Montreal on Sunday. Juventus, on the other hand, finished their North American tour with two defeats.
