In Sunday’s late fixture, Fiorentina hosted Atalanta at the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence. The visitors looked to be en route towards an expected victory thanks to Duvan Zapata’s first half brace, but Dusan Vlahovic dragged the home side back to the match in the second half with two goals of his own. Nevertheless, substitute Josip Ilicic earned and converted the penalty kick to seal a 3-2 win for La Dea against his old club.
In the absence of his star-man Franck Ribery, Viola’s returning manager Giuseppe Iachini started with his usual 3-5-2 tactical formation, spearheaded by Christian Kouamé and Vlahovic. Giacomo Bonaventura joined Sofyan Amrabat and Gaetano Castrovilli in an impressive midfield trio.
On the other hand Gian Piero Gasperini maintained his newly adopted 4-2-3-1 lineup, with Zapata playing as the lone center forward, and supported Ruslan Malinovskyi, Mario Pasalic and the Orobici’s top striker Luis Muriel.
TEAM NEWS | ?
Our starting XI for tonight’s game ⚜️#ForzaViola ? #FiorentinaAtalanta pic.twitter.com/Akz6KuqjOM
— ACF Fiorentina English (@ACFFiorentinaEN) April 11, 2021
After a slow start to the match, the hosts managed to find the back of the net from the first real chance of the match. Malinovskyi’s corner was met by the towering Zapata who nodded it home after out-muscling Bonaventura in a clear mismatch. What were Fiorentina thinking?!
Few minutes later, the Colombian striker almost doubled the lead when meeting the cross of his compatriot Muriel with a first-time shot, but Bart Dragovski dived brilliantly to deny it.
In the middle of the first half, a rash challenge from Cristian Romero on Vlahovic caused a debacle, as the hosts demanded the referee to send off the Argentine defender, but the official found the yellow card to be just enough.
The challenge resulted in a freekick that delivered the Viola’s first goal-scoring opportunity in the match, as Martin Caceres met Cristiano Biraghi’s cross, but his header went just wide.
Zapata wasted yet another chance to get his second of the evening, as he was released on goal by Pasalic after some neat work in La Dea’s midfield, but Dragowski once again pulled off the unlikely save.
Nonetheless, the former Napoli and Sampdoria man earned his brace anyway, as Malinovskyi’s sublime assist broke the offside trap and the striker coolly finished in front of goal.
? Così in campo a Firenze!
? Here's our line-up to face Fiorentina!Presented by @Plus500#FiorentinaAtalanta #GoAtalantaGo ⚫️? pic.twitter.com/nX3Bn6Tg1e
— Atalanta B.C. (@Atalanta_BC) April 11, 2021
After a quiet opening, the second half came to life when Iachini’s men pulled one back, when Martin Caceres brought the ball down for Vlahovic inside the penalty area, and the young striker made no mistake with his left-footed half-volley.
Ten minutes later, a stunning counter-attack from Fiorentina put them back on level terms with Atalanta. Koumé managed to go through Berat Djimsiti before unselfishly laying it towards the path of Vlahovic, and the 21-year-old completed his brace with a simple finish, scoring his 15th goal of the campaign.
However, the Purple players were hardly able to savor the moment, as Lucas Quarta’s handball inside his own box costed them a penalty kick. Dragowski almost managed to pull of a spectacular save with his foot, but Ilicic put too much power on it, and the ball ended up going through.
Atalanta could have sealed the match beyond any doubt with a fourth goal, but Pasalic drilled his low effort just wide, and Zapata was once again denied by the Fiorentina goalkeeper.
In the last minute of extra-time, Biraghi tried to earn a point for the hosts with a close-range freekick, but his shot was blocked by the wall, as the Orobici jumped right back to the Top 4 spots thanks a hard-earned 3-2 away victory.
Two braces and a penalty kick: #FiorentinaAtalanta 2-3#SerieATIM #WeAreCalcio pic.twitter.com/tJcIUQYcKn
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) April 11, 2021
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