Pre-match
Despite rumors that he’d switch to a back 4, Paolo Vanoli kept the usual 3-5-2. Pietro Comuzzo replaced the suspended Marin Pongračić, Fabiano Parisi filled in for the injured Robin Gosens, and Albert Guðmundsson got the nod over Roberto Piccoli. Fabio Grosso went with Cristian Volpato in place of Domenico Berardi, who’s out until January.
Big shoutout to the Viola fans, though, who filled up the away end after calling on each other to support the club through this difficult time rather than do the easy
thing and complain. Instead, 4000 of them showed up in Emilia Romagna and turned the Mapei into a home away from home.
First half
Moise Kean had an early sight at goal from a clever Rolando Mandragora free kick as the Viola looked the better side. Mandragora snuck in behind and crossed, which resulted in Arijanet Murić neearly decapitating poor Fabiano Parisi as tehy both went for the ball. It was as obvious a penalty as you’ll see and Pairetto didn’t need VAR to confirm it. Up stepped Mandragora, despite Kean’s protestations, and thumped it into the bottom corner.
Despite the apparent positivity, Fiorentina did what it does best and folded like a newspaper again. It took all of 5 minutes for Cristian Volpato to have a pop that deflected off Pablo Marí, wrongfooting David de Gea and nestling into the back of the net.
From there, the game settled into a pretty clear pattern: Sassuolo moved the ball around, probing for weaknesses that it knew existed, while Fiorentina scrambled to hide those weaknesses and occasionally get forward on the counter; all in all, it was exactly what you’d expect from a solidly mid-table side taking on Serie A’s most disappointing team. The biggest concern was the dumb little fouls the Viola kept committing in their own half, allowing a succession of set pieces, and eventually the hosts made one pay. It was Tarik Muharemović taking advantage of some poor marking to head home a corner, because if there’s one thing the Viola can’t do, it’s defend set pieces.
Second half
Sassuolo continued its dominance as Fiorentina failed to create any sort of coherent strategy going forward. It felt like Muharemović’s goal completely sapped the energy from these guys and the halftime break wasn’t enough to recover it. They failed to make any impact, instead giving up niggling little fouls to put themselves in trouble and generally looking like a team with no idea of how it would come back. They compounded that problem shortly after Vanoli made some nominally attacking changes, mixing up their marking and allowing Ismaël Koné to waltz 40 yards unopposed before finishing off the post.
Now trailing by 2 goals, we all knew it was over and so did the Viola players. It was clear they were just going through the motions and never believed that they could bring this one back, and you know what? They were right. Everything they did was late, disjointed, and ultimately meaningless. When the triple blast arrived, it didn’t end our pain. We’ve got a whole season of it left and nothing will stop it.
Full time
Goals: Volpato 14’ (ass. Muharemović), Muharemović 45’+1 (ass. Laurienté), Koné (ass. Volpato); Mandragora PK 9’
Cards: Murić 7’, Thorstvedt 16’, Grosso red card 59’ (lol); Ndour 90+2’, Viti 90’+4, Mandragora 90’+6
What’s next
Pain, buddy. More pain. This makes it 14 straight without a win in Serie A, obviously. 6 points. It’s time to make peace with Serie B, because relegation is, at this point, an inevitability. I’ve never seen the team this bad. Everything is bad. Everything. Everything.
The optimist might say that next week’s clash against Hellas Verona (also winless thus far) is a relegation 6-pointer, and that subsequent winnable games—vs Udinese, at Parma, vs Cremonese—offer hope. I’d answer that sure, maybe Fiorentina will win one of those. Maybe even two. But will this expensively-assembled bunch haul itself out of the drop zone? Reader, I find it hard to believe.
See you on Thursday for the Conference League tie against Dynamo Kyiv. I would say that I’ll see you in hell, too, but we’re already there.
