Gatti goal hands Juventus an uninspiring victory
Juventus returned to winning ways after four league games without a victory, but it was a labouring effort against Fiorentina that earned the Bianconeri a 1-0 win to shore up fourth place on the Serie A table.
Juve had three goals ruled out for offside in the opening half but eventually took the lead in the 21st minute through Federico Gatti, and his goal turned out to be the winner as Massimilano Allegri's side parked the bus in the second half and relied on a world-class save from Wojciech Szczesny to keep the score in its favour.
This was just a second victory in 10 league games for Juventus after it won its Coppa Italia semi-final, first leg 2-0 against Lazio in last week.
Fiorentina enjoyed the lion's share of possession early on, while the hosts looked more dangerous, twice finding the net in the opening 12 minutes with both efforts ruled out for offside.
Dusan Vlahovic, searching for his first goal against his former club, was furious about the second one as his header took a touch of his team mate Bremer in an offside position.
It seemed only a matter of time before Juve broke the deadlock, though, and after Bremer's looping header from a corner came off the far post, Gatti was quickest to reacto to the loose ball and tapped in from close range.
Fiorentina improved after the break and was denied an equaliser when Nicolas Gonzalez curled a left-foot shot from outside the area which goalkeeper Szczesny somehow managed to tip onto the crossbar with the ball headed for the top corner.
In the final minutes, the visitors had another chance. but when substitute Lucas Beltran struck from close range his team mate M'Bala Nzola blocked the goal-bound effort and Juventus held on as Fiorentina's awful away record in Turin continued It has now lost 12 of its past 13 games at Allianz Stadium.
Juventus also won in Florence when the teams met earlier this season and the sides could face each other again after Fiorentina also won the first leg of its Coppa Italia semi-final 1-0 against Atalanta.