Khephren Thuram scored the first two goals in his Juventus career, but Moise Kean and a late Riccardo Sottil volley allowed Fiorentina to claw back a 2-2 thriller.
Both teams were on 31 points going in, although the Viola had a game in hand. Juve finally ended their run of four straight draws by beating Monza, but were still missing Tim Weah, Arkadiusz Milik, Jonas Rouhi, Gleison Bremer and Juan Cabal. Fiorentina had won eight in a row before two consecutive defeats to Bologna and Udinese. Kean and Dusan Vlahovic were facing their former clubs in a bitter grudge match for the two sets of fans, with Nico Gonzalez on the bench.
See how it unfolded on the Liveblog.
Vlahovic went close with a glancing header just wide from the Francisco Conceicao cross, but the referee stopped play early on for two minutes so that a statement could be read over the speakers, warning Fiorentina fans to stop their racist chants towards the Serbia international.
Juventus broke the deadlock when Khephren Thuram surged forward from midfield and found a gap in the centre of the Viola defence, surprising Danilo Cataldi and Luca Ranieri to drill low into the near bottom corner.
Manuel Locatelli threw himself in the way of an Albert Gudmundsson finish just outside the box and Fiorentina drew level with Kean.
Yacine Adli swung a cross in from the left and Pierre Kalulu mistimed the jump, allowing Kean to score with the glancing header from six yards. He refused to celebrate against his old club, waving an apology to the crowd.
David De Gea made an astonishing save at the near post on Vlahovic’s rocket from close range, then could only watch as the Locatelli screamer flashed inches past the top corner from outside the area.
Thuram restored the Juve advantage with his second of the game straight after the restart. Danilo Cataldi’s deflection actually helped the Koopmeiners through ball land kindly for the midfielder, who made the most of it by sweeping into the far bottom corner with the inside of the right boot from eight yards.
Kean fired straight at Michele Di Gregorio after a Lucas Beltran flick on, while De Gea needed another great reaction save on Federico Gatti’s free header from a corner.
It was not over, because in the final minutes Andrea Cambiaso slipped when trying to clear, sparking a long Fiorentina attack that culminated in the Kean effort charged down from nine yards, a ricochet landing kindly for Riccardo Sottil to smash in the volley.
It remained wide open, Conceicao sprinting down the right for an angled drive that De Gea parried with an outstretched boot at the near post.
Juventus 2-2 Fiorentina
K Thuram 20, 48 (J), Kean 38 (F)
