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Mutu's equalizer denies Juventus a much-needed win

Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri gestures during his team's match against Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence, Italy, on Sunday. PHOTO: AP

Former Juve forward Adrian Mutu scored a late penalty for Fiorentina to deny his former club a priceless victory at the Stadio Franchi on Sunday.

Juventus started the day in second place but dropped to third after the loss of two points allowed Roma, who cruised to a 3-0 win at Parma, to leap-frog them as Inter Milan's closest challengers.

Fiorentina came into the game with one of only two unbeaten records this season but needed the Romanian striker's successful penalty two minutes from time to snatch a share of the spoils.

Juve boss Claudio Ranieri, returning to his former club, had surprisingly left Alessandro Del Piero on the bench but his replacement Vincenzo Iaquinta opened the scoring on 23 minutes, pouncing on a loose ball after a collision between Fiorentina pair Dario Dainelli and Alessandro Gamberini left the striker free in the box.

Despite almost snatching the win, Ranieri admitted his side would struggle to keep up with the best teams this season.

"We want to compete, but we can only do so if the other big clubs give us the opportunity. We did enough to win today, but weren't sharp enough in those final minutes," he said.

Fiorentina looked naturally jaded following their penalty shoot-out victory over FC Groningen of the Netherlands in the UEFA Cup on Thursday night.

After the break Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli went for broke, pushing Christian Vieri into the fray in an attacking line-up.

Chances came thick and fast at both ends before Nicola Legrottaglie blocked a Vieri header with his arm and the referee pointed to the spot, allowing Mutu to rifle home the equalizer.

"We were in the thick of the action right from the start and until Vincenzo Iaquinta's opening goal, Juve did not have a single chance," said Prandelli, who praised his team's effort. "All we were missing was a little bit of sharpness, but I could not have asked for more from my men. Despite the fitness worries, they overcame that obstacle with sheer heart."

Francesco Totti scored a brace as Roma bounced back from their midweek Champions League defeat at Manchester United (1-0) to move back above Juventus into second.

It was the Giallorossi's first win in four league games and Parma were the ideal opponents to end Roma's recent poor run of results, that included a 4-1 home defeat to Inter last weekend.

"It is true we did not lock the result away immediately, but neither did we struggle," Roma boss Luciano Spaletti said.

"We maintained our balance and showed great character in reacting to the defeats with Inter and Manchester United. I am sure my men will be able to take the right things from this win without letting themselves get over-excited," he said.

They opened the scoring on three minutes as Mirko Vucinic robbed Paolo Castellini to set up Totti with an easy tap-in.

Amantino Mancini made it 2-0 on the counter-attack and following the dismissal of Parma's Bernardo Corradi on 27 minutes, Totti wrapped up the points late on following good work from Daniele De Rossi.

European champions AC Milan scored an impressive 5-1 victory at Lazio to move them up to eighth place in the table, seven points behind the leaders.

It was a welcome result for Milan who lost to Celtic in the Champions League and had previously only won one of their first six league games.
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