Player grades
David de Gea—6: Had very little to do in this one, making just 1 save (pretty routine) and not doing much sweeping up. Can’t fault him for conceding a screamer, even if it was from far away; the distance
is mitigated by Viti blocking his line of sight.
Mattia Viti—7: Very steady game for the local guy. Never seemed all that stressed about Nazar Voloshyn, who’s a good young winger. Offered a more composed approach than Ranieri’s often frenzied bursts forward, playing mistake-free for 90 minutes.
Pietro Comuzzo—6: Struggled occasionally with the quick, stocky Eduardo Guerrero and made a couple of errors that better teams will punish but his mobility makes him an interesting fit in the middle of the back 3 instead of Pablo Marí. Give him a chance back there and see how he looks once he’s in a rhythm.
Marin Pongračić—6.5: Shut down Vladyslav Kabaev and had a couple of nice moments in possession as a ball-carrier, but his passing remains a real concern. He’s got all the technical ability in the world so it’s clearly a mental issue and those are harder to fix.
Niccolò Fortini—6.5: His energy, athleticism, and quick feet make him an interesting piece. His inexperience means he’s still a rough watch at times, especially in the final third as his crossing is frequently off the mark, but if he can improve that, he’ll go from interesting to useful. I’m confident.
Cher Ndour—5: Got up and down and threw himself around like always, which was good. Wasn’t great on the ball and never connected on those trademark runs beyond the strikers, which wasn’t good.
Hans Nicolussi Caviglia—5: The Amazing Cardiovascular Man might lead Italy in distance covered per 90 but doesn’t do all that much. Biffed a number of passes and remains static in the middle of the pitch instead of looking for the ball. Also lost Olkesandr Pikhalyonok on the goal.
Amir Richardson—6.5: Understandably quite rusty in the first half but settled in after the break and wound up looking like Fiorentina’s best midfielder by some distance. He has a role to play for this team if the mister’s smart enough to realize it.
Dodô—7: That’s more like it. Created a succession of chances, especially in the first half, and assisted Kean’s opener. Did get bodied in the buildup to Dynamo’s goal but that’s part of the very small package. More importantly, seems to have rediscovered some joy, as evidenced by the laugh he shared with Shaparenko as he defended his own goal on a corner. Subbed off late with what might’ve been an ankle issue but it didn’t look serious.
Edin Džeko—5: Tasked with pulling the strings in attack and had a couple nice passes but missed 2 headers and a few other passes and clearly has nothing past second gear. Also, watch the leadup to Dynamo’s goal. He’s the one who failed to track Pihalyonok and confused his teammates. He can still play a little but the athleticism is gone.
Moise Kean—7.5: Quickly established himself as the game’s protagonist. Took his goal really well and had a handful of chances denied by some outstanding goalkeeping by Ruslan Nescheret, although the Moose really should’ve had at least one other. Also displayed some maturity by not lashing out after Vladyslav Zakharchenko yanked on his hair, and even finished the game with the armband. Was just too much for the Dynamo defense all game.
Albert Guðmundsson—6.5: Attacked space from a slightly deeper position, relishing his free role to drift around and break into the box from unexpected directions. Took his goal quite nicely and had a positive impact for maybe the first time this season.
Christian Kouamé—4: I like Kouamé very much and I’m delighted that he’s back because I missed his big smile and fantastic attitude but the injury layoff did nothing to improve his touch on the ball.
Fabiano Parisi—6.5: Huge impact from Fabi, creating two gilt-edged chances for Kean. As usual, shone against an opponent forced to commit numbers forward and leave him space to break into.
Rolando Mandragora—5: Helped settle things down and see out the game.
Eddy Kouadio—n/a: Got a yellow card for time wasting in his 4 minutes plus stoppage but whatever.
Three things we learned
1. I haven’t felt the way I feel to day in so long, it’s hard for me to specify
On 23 October 2025, Fiorentina hammered an outmatched Rapid Wien 0-3 in Vienna. Until this game, it was the last time the boys had won a game. 49 days between wins is a mighty long time. No conclusions here. Just take the time you’d normally spend reading another paragraph of analysis to bask in the warmth. You’re still here. You earned it.
2. Skinny legs and all
Since this was Amir Richardson’s first start of the season, I want to dive a little deeper on him. Like I wrote earlier, he didn’t have a perfect game, losing the ball way too easily in the first half especially. What stood out to me about his performance, though, was that alone of Fiorentina’s midfielders, he wants the ball. The contrast between him and Nicolussi Caviglia was stark: the latter plants himself 10 yards ahead of the defenders, dead center, and never moves. If the ball doesn’t find him, that’s someone else’s problem. He’ll be there no matter what.
Richardson, on the other hand, is always on the move. Unlike HNC, who covers a ton of ground without accomplishing much, the Slender Man is always checking towards the guy on the ball to provide a forward option. He wants to play 1-2s, to get the ball circulating quickly. Even if there’s no immediate benefit, that approach forces the opposition to move around, and eventually a hole will open up somewhere.
Remember back to April, when Richardson finally put it together and suddenly looked like Fiorentina’s regista of the future? The version we saw against Dynamo was only an echo of that player, but the real thing’s certainly in there. Giving him some burn could change the entire tenor of the midfield and put everyone in the correct role: Fagioli as the creative hub that floats around, Mandragora as the box-crasher, Ndour and Sohm as bulldozers, HNC as the Cardio Monster. Richardson isn’t a world beater and he won’t fix everything wrong with the team, but he can make an outsized impact.
3. That was fun, son, but off you go
Fiorentina was miles the better team, sure, and created a lot more chances than the score suggests. That feels good and we deserve to enjoy it (see: Point 1). I don’t think we actually learned all that much here, though. Dynamo didn’t have anyone who could create an advantage in the final third so we never really saw the Viola defense under real pressure; the only goal conceded was a thunderbolt that defies any real analysis.
Similarly, the midfield and attack were helped by a positive game state from the word go. Kean struck pretty early and Dynamo panicked, pushing too high and allowing Fiorentina to tear right through the middle of the pitch unopposed. The dynamic remained even after the visitors equalized. That won’t happen very often against better opposition, which includes all of Serie A.
So yeah, enjoy this one for a little longer, but don’t think that Vanoli’s hit on anything approaching a solution. We’ve seen him switch to a back 4 in league games to minimal effect; that it worked here has more to do with the talent disparity, a disparity Fiorentina won’t have in Serie A. Maybe Richardson proved that he’s part of the solution, but I don’t know if there’s all that much to conclude otherwise. An entire season’s worth of poison won’t be expurgated by a single game against Dynamo Kyiv.
