Pre-match
With both Luca Ranieri and Marin Pongračić injured, Paolo Vanoli fielded Viery in the heart of defense. He also picked João Mário at leftback; boy howdy can the mister not wait to have Fabiano Parisi back, possibly as soon as next month. The rest of the XI was unchanged from the group that rode David de Gea and outrageous good fortune to a win at the San Siro against Inter Milan until, y’know, those last couple minutes. Maurizio Sarri, whose mother lives within a stone’s throw of the Artemio Franchi,
didn’t spring any real surprises with his lineup.
First half
Fiorentina was quick out the blocks, dominating the possession and territory in a way nobody expected. Marco Brescianini was the early standout, constantly finding space and asking questions as the Viola won the ball high up time and again but weren’t able to make it count. The first 20 minutes were one-way traffic and even when la Dea found her feet, it was the hosts who retained the ascendancy with their intensity. Mateo Pellegrino, Franco Mastantuono, Cher Ndour, Nicolò Fagioli, and Alieu Njie had decent looks but couldn’t make them count, which meant the most predictable thing imaginable happened. It was a dumb turnover and Cher Ndour should’ve tracked Charles de Ketaelaere better but also this is divine wrath more than anything else.
Fiorentina nearly paid for that head loss with another embarrassing concession but David de Gea made a stunning save on Nikola Krstović’s header a minute letter and Pellegrino headed his own great chance over seconds later. When halftime arrived, Vanoli must’ve been even angrier than usual. He’d gotten his part exactly right; his players just lacked that bit of class in the final third to make the scoreboard reflect their overall performance. At least we got the novelty of seeing referee Federico La Penna pick up an injury in the closing moments, forcing fourth official Livio Marinelli into the spotlight.
Second half
Vanoli hooked the unimpressive Nicolò Fagioli at the break and brought on Christ Inao Oulaï, who added some bite out of possession. Much to my surprise, the Viola didn’t collapse after the break. They maintained their intensity and stuck to it. Mastantuono curled a free kick inches wide moments after the restart. Eljif Elmas probably ought to have added a second not long after but, on replay, he handled it in the buildup. That set the stage for Njie to score a really lovely header at the back post. Fling yourself at it, son.
Wonder of wonders, Fiorentina kept at it. No head loss. No catastrophic descent of focus. Just a very Vanolian gritting of the teeth and bearing down. And you know what? It worked. It actually worked. Sure, it took a wild deflection on a slightly optimistic João Mário strike that made me feel genuine agony for Matteo Carnesecchi in goal, but it worked.
Fiorentina sat off a bit more than I’d have liked with the lead but Atalanta didn’t seem too inclined to take advantage and, after about 10 minutes, the Viola re-established the ascendancy and kept grinding. When Wilfried Gnonto jinked in and let fly, it felt like justice that his shot clearly hit an arm on the way in. VAR Matteo Griglio somehow didn’t give the penalty, though, and Atalanta got forward and almost immediately equalized. The entire Viola defense failed to close down Nicola Zalewski and his finish was good but also that passage probably shouldn’t have happened.
Even then, the Viola didn’t give up and kept pushing but didn’t have the quality to make their endeavors count and despite quite a bit of huffing and puffing but in the end, the hosts didn’t have quite enough to find a winner.
Full time
Goals: Njie 53’ (ass. Jimenez), João Mário 61’ (ass. Njie); de Ketaelaere 41’ (ass. Zalewski), Zalewski 74’ (ass. de Ketaelaere)
Cards: Viery 30’, Pellegrino 51’, Gnonto 75’; Elmas 12’, Obrić 83’
Quick hits
-Brescianini was the unlikely protagonist. He constantly ran into the channel between Njie and João Mário and Atalanta couldn’t figure him out. Sarri adjusted after 25ish minutes but Marco deserves a ton of credit for his work in this one, even if it didn’t pay off. His physical and tactical attributes were on full display; the technical ones were all that was lacking.
-Because Fiorentina was able to make inroads down the left, Mastantuono was more of a secondary creator and you know what? It suited him. He obviously wants to be on the ball but for my money, he’s way better as the change-of-pace guy than the primary option going forward. I’m not sure this Viola edition is designed to allow him that luxury but if you’re a Real Madrid fan, you were probably taking notes.
-Viery is very young and prone to dumb decisions but I’m going to double down on my blazing hot take in the wake of the Venezia game: he’s the best defender on the roster. Tracking his progress will be a pleasure.
-By my count, Fiorentina didn’t create a single chance off set pieces. Part of that was La Penna getting in the way of a cutback but still. Ugh.
-The trajectory isn’t bad despite the results. Fiorentina collapsed against Genoa, got pumped by Como, rode luck and de Gea to an almost win against Inter, and then assembled a very competent 90 minutes that deserved a win here. Things are trending in the right direction despite the results and that is my primary interest. Vanoli’s doing fine. Not great. Not terribly. Fine. That’s what this team needs.
What’s next
The single point these bozos won isn’t much but it’s enough to float another place up in the table: 5 from 9 is wretched, sure, but I’m less worried than I was this time last year. The performances over this month have showed marginal improvement and I think the results will eventually follow. 1 point from the past 2 games underwhelms right now. Duh. But Fiorentina’s played as well as can be expected in back-to-back outings against European teams and you know what? I’ve seen enough in these past two to to continue trusting Vanoli.
And that trust sets us up for some pain. The Viola head north to take on Sassuolo at the Mapei on Monday. The Neroverdi haven’t impressed me this year but they’re 12th, which is uh 3 places and 3 points above our boys so maybe not all that unimpressive, relatively speaking. Regardless, I’m less interested in outcome at this point and more interested in process. If Fiorentina can go on the road (albeit to one of Serie A’s least-threatening stadia) and string together 90 acceptable minutes, I’ll feel good. As Producer Mike insists, the bad luck has to run out some time.
