Fiorentina vs Milan 2-1: Astori Honored in Viola Victory

The Stadio Artemio Franchi honored their late captain Davide Astori as Fiorentina defeated Milan 2-1 on Saturday evening. The atmosphere was deafening in Florence as the sold-out crowd saw goals from Nicolas Gonzalez and Luka Jovic to send the Viola faithful home victorious. 

Everyone in the stadium stopped and applauded in the 13th minute to honour the memory of Astori, including the players on the pitch for both Fiorentina and Milan in a heartfelt moment in Tuscany. 

Fiorentina On Top But Goalless At the Half

A poor pass by Fikayo Tomori gave the ball away in a dangerous position for Milan early on which led to Malick Thiaw bringing down Arthur Cabral on the edge of the box. Andrea Biraghi forced a save from the resulting free kick by goalkeeper Mike Maignan as the hosts piled on the pressure in the opening phases. 

Giacomo Bonaventura came extremely close to taking the lead midway through the first half but his effort was denied off the line by Tomori. Milan’s sloppy defending was almost punished after the midfielder found himself in an excellent position inside the box, following some lovely link-up play between Rolando Mandragora and Nicolas Gonzalez, but the visitors had a lucky escape. 

Olivier Giroud managed to hit the target after connecting well with a fantastic ball over the top by Ismael Bennacer but the Frenchman couldn’t get enough power on his shot as Pietro Terracciano made a comfortable stop. Milan did manage to relieve the early pressure from the hosts but failed to create many meaningful opportunities themselves. 

Gonzalez Takes Lead, Terracciano the Protector

Tomori didn’t look comfortable all evening and gave away a penalty shortly after the restart when he brought down the advancing Jonathan Ikone inside the area. Gonzalez made no mistake from the spot, slotting the ball home confidently and sending Maignan the wrong way. 

Milan improved after the goal went in and looked to get on the front foot to get back into the match. Ante Rebic looked like the visitors’ brightest spark and even tested Terracciano but the ‘keeper was able to make the save. The Viola ‘keeper looked strong in between the sticks throughout the match. 

Rossoneri Turn to Zlatan, Jovic Seals Victory

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was brought on off the bench as head coach Stefano Pioli turned to the veteran to spark a bit of life into the Milan attack. Divock Origi and Tiemoue Bakayoko were also introduced in a triple change midway through the second half. 

Dodo had a great chance to double the lead shortly after as he got through the Milan defense but Maignan and Tomori just did enough to prevent the goal. The hosts started to look more comfortable in the match again, despite VAR overturning a strange penalty decision awarded by the referee for a handball by Cabral. 

However, Fiorentina would seal the three points after a fine move by the hosts. Ikone found Dodo with a good pass down the right flank before the Brazilian found the arriving Luka Jovic with a header to make it 2-0. Theo Hernandez would pull a goal back for Milan deep into injury time with a wonderful goal but it was too little too late as Fiorentina recorded the win. 

MATCH SCORECARD

March 4, 2023 – Serie A 2022-23 Round 25
FIORENTINA – MILAN 2-1

SCORERS: 49′ Gonzalez, 87′ Jovic (F) 90+4′ Hernandez (M)