Rome - Juventus appeared to be still far from their best form Saturday as their Brazilian striker Amauri found the net after a long barren patch to level a Manuel Vargas goal in a 1-1 home draw to Fiorentina. The two sides displayed more grit than class and remained level on 15 points from eight games to move to within one point of joint- leaders Inter Milan and Sampdoria.
Inter can stretch their lead as they play a tough game late Saturday at Genoa, while joint-leaders Sampdoria have the same chance when they play Sunday away to Lazio.
In rainy Turin, the hosts' opening goal on five minutes owed much to a left-flank break from Montenegro's Stevan Jovetic that favoured Manuel Vargas's winning shot past Gianluigi Buffon.
Two incredible close-range blunders by Vincenzo Iaquinta on 15 and 18 minutes triggered Juve's equalizing efforts, which were rewarded when Amauri flicked into the empty net one minute later.
The goal saw the Brazilian striker end a scoring drought that began in mid-February.
After the equalizer, Juve slacked their pace and allowed Vargas to attempt an angled drive that met Buffon's deflection shortly before the break.
A nasty drive from Juve's returning Mali midfielder Mohamed Sissokho shortly after the break deflected by the boot of French goalkeeper Sebastien Frey.
Sissokho displayed good form despite a seven-month absence due to a foot fracture and came close with a header before a near miss from Jovetic.
Argentine Alberto Santana fired from the distance on 59 minutes, but his fast drive was too central to worry Buffon and Frey also had no problems to grab two feeble headers from Amauri.
A better chance went begging for Juve when former Fiorentina Brazilian Felipe Melo nodded high from a good position on 67 minutes while four minutes later Amauri tried without success a wide drive from outside the area.
