Pre-match
Giovanni Stroppa had a defensive crisis on his hands but figured out something. Matías Moreno and Simon Sohm both started. Paolo Vanoli made a bunch of changes, including Viery at leftback and Alex Jimenez at rightback. Alieu Njie started on the left wing and Beto got the nod up front. Also, full credit to the 1000ish Viola fans who made the trip.
First half
Fiorentina came out firing, getting the ball forward easily and ripping through the makeshift Venezia
defense at will. Mastantuono, Njie, and Arthur Atta were all very active and looked like finding a way through, although Akor Adams gave Radu Drǎgușin some nervy moments at the back. After a dominant start, it felt like everything was falling into place. So naturally Fiorentina suffered a bozo moment at the back: Gianluca Busio strode past Nicolò Fagioli and played in Adams, who’d ghosted away from Luca Ranieri and Drǎgușin and finished powerfully past David de Gea.
Despite the gut punch, the Viola kept battling away and created some decent looks. The equalizer came from a relatively tame situation, though. Mastantuono got the ball in space on the wing, predictably cut inside, and then fired towards the near post, catching Filip Stanković completely off guard. It might have relied more on a goalkeeping mistake than a moment of brilliance but for a teenager scoring his first goal for his new club, that’s fine.
It went from bad to worse for Venezia as last man Ridgeciano hapslessly slipped over as Beto bulldozed through the lines. The big striker chased it down alongside Mastantuono and the pair nearly boofed the chance by both deferring, allowing the Leoni defenders to get back, but eventually Franky dinged it home via the post to double his tally and hand Fiorentina the lead.
From there, the Viola remained firmly in control. The only moment Venezia threatened was after Antoine Hainaut dove to win a free kick on the wing, and even that broke the visitors’ way when David de Gea launched it quickly upfield, catching everyone by surprise and putting Njie through, 1although the Swedish winger couldn’t beat Stanković 1-v-1. When halftime arrived, the Viola had firmly established themselves as the better team. The only worry was that Vanoli would drop them too deep to protect the lead when it was clear that the Arancioneroverdi defense was very beatable.
Second half
The goals were definitely there. Venezia pushed bodies forward and that opened space on the break. Beto should’ve set up another after winning the ball in the Venezia box but he tried to take it himself instead of squaring it to an unmarked Njie. Things got a bit nervous around the hour mark as Venezia had 3 decent looks in quick succession. It all came to nothing, though, as the hosts piled into the box for a free kick and Nicolò Fagioli played a peach of a ball over the top. Mateo Pellegrino lumbered all the way after it and finished neatly. I doubt the big man will score many more where he outpaces a defender like that, although Moreno was injured on the play and clearly couldn’t run, limping off immediately after.
A 2-goal lead settled the visitors nicely and they stayed in control thereafter, although de Gea had to make a good save on a Thorir Helgason missile. Fiorentina looked the more dangerous side despite that hiccup and always looked a threat to break. That threat fully materialized in comical fashion. Following a scramble from a corner kick, Cher Ndour lifted a ball over the top for Mastantuono. Stanković saved his initial effort but the ball popped up and bounced off the youngster’s face and thence into the net, allowing him to complete his hat trick in a rather farcical fashion.
This being Fiorentina, of course, the guys couldn’t just calmly see it out. Haps (who was quite good aside from the slip) picked out Antoine Hainaut in the box. The Frenchman’s volleyed finish was quite nice but it’s worth wondering just how he found so much space in the box that late on as the Viola protected a 1-4 lead.
From there, though, the good guys eventually saw it out. They won’t win any points for style but they will win 3 points for, well, winning.
Full time
Goals: Adams 22’ (ass. Busio), Hainaut 86’ (ass. Haps); Mastantuono 29’ (ass. Jimenez) 30’ (ass. Beto) 84’, Pellegrino 66’ (ass. Fagioli)
Cards: Schingtienne 38’, Sohm 73’; Njie 72’
What we learned
-There’s only so much you can learn from beating up a newly-promoted side missing a bunch of defenders and that lost its captain and another centerback to injury during the game. Venezia’s better than Benevento but is going to leak a lot of goals. This isn’t a Serie A-level defense, especially with all the absences.
-Beto looks like the real deal. He didn’t score and he’s a little bit clunky but his off-ball movement is great, he leads the pressing very well, and he looks like a real pain to play against. Once he and his wingers develop an understanding, this could get quite interesting.
-The defense is still awfully shaky but at least Drǎgușin showed a bit of character, engaging in a running battle with Adams that saw both shoving each other and engaging in all sorts of silliness. If that’s what it takes to get his confidence back, fine.
-The biggest difference I saw was Ndour’s role. He wasn’t given the freedom to motor up and down at will but shackled to a deeper position to act as Fagioli’s bodyguard. He has to sacrifice a bit but it worked a lot better, as Nicky Beans wasn’t as isolated in front of the defense. It also allowed Atta to push higher up, creating a 4-4-2 out of possession that turned Venezia over multiple times near its own goal.
-I like pairing Pellegrino and Gnonto in a 4-4-2, as Vanoli did late on. Mat’s huge and slow. Willie’s small and quick. It’s a classic dynamic that allows both players to intuitively understand their roles. Again, Vanoli’s willingness to simplify things is a breath of fresh air.
-Most importantly, Mastantuono hat trick! It’s the first for Fiorentina since Moise Kean’s against Hellas Verona in 2024 and makes Frankie the youngest of 29 hat trick scorers in club history. He’s also the 9th-youngest hat trick scorer in Serie A history and the youngest since Francesco Grandolfo did it for Bari against Bologna in 2011. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty cool.
What’s next
Fiorentina’s got its first points of the season, rocketing up the board to 15th, pending later results. That should build a bit of confidence heading into Tuesday’s Coppa Italia round of 32 game, a Tuscan derby against the loathsome Pisa (boo hiss). Waiting on Sunday is Antonio Conte’s Napoli, which has looked shakier than expected (although everyone knows how Conte teams do when they’re in Europe by now). After that, of course, comes the brief, blessed oblivion of the first international break of the season.
