All eyes were on Fiorentina in Sunday’s lunch match as Cesare Prandelli was making his second debut on the bench after 11 years, but it was instead Benevento that snapped out of their prolonged slump thanks to a surgical goal by unlikely hero Riccardo Improta.
Despite a new formation, the Gigliati were held back by the same lackadaisical pace that mired the Giuseppe Iachini era, while the Sanniti displayed much more organization and robustness compared to their recent games and capitalized on the opponents’ sloppiness.
Both teams came into the game looking to bounce back as the Viola had prevailed in just one of the last four rounds, against Udinese, while the Sanniti were coming off four straight losses.
Cesare Prandelli's first starting XI ?
— ACF Fiorentina English (@ACFFiorentinaEN) November 22, 2020
FORZA VIOLA ?#ForzaViola ? #FiorentinaBenevento pic.twitter.com/volfXfKIDG
As rumored, Prandelli moved on from 3-5-2 and arrayed his men in a 4-2-3-1, although the positions on the pitch were rather fluid. Giacomo Bonaventura was pulled from the XI due to an ankle injury in the warm-ups and was replaced by Alfred Duncan, with Gaetano Castrovilli moving to the hole. Nikola Milenkovic played at right-back and Igor partnered the returning German Pezzella. Sofyan Amrabat manned the other pivot spot, while Christian Kouamé started as right winger opposite to Franck Ribery, with Dusan Vlahovic spearheading the front-line.
Filippo Inzaghi made some surprising choices as well since he held out Gianluca Lapadula, fresh off international duties with Peru, picking Gabriele Moncini to lead the attack, joined by Marco Sau and Riccardo Improta – in place of suspended Gianluca Caprari – who were selected over the regular Roberto Insigne. In the midfield, Perparim Hetemaj substituted Brayan Dabo, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, while Federico Barba filled in at left-back since Daam Foulon was unavailable.
Fiorentina were the aggressors in the first half and controlled the ball for the most part, but they were rarely dangerous as the adversaries clogged up the spaces pretty well all game long. The fist minor scoring opportunity belonged to Benevento, but Marco Sau and Artur Ionita did not combine sharply after intercepting a misplaced pass by Bartlomiej Dragowski.
The Viola’s lone attempt came on a quick counter conducted by Ribery, who fed the trailing Cristiano Biraghi, but the fullback sent his lefty strike way over the crossbar. Things got worse for the home side near the end of the first half as Ribery asked to come out because of an apparent thigh injury and was replaced by Riccardo Saponara.
⚽️ STARTING XI
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? #FiorentinaBenevento
? #SerieATIM @SerieA
??♀️ #ForzaStrega pic.twitter.com/esGa4Dw37j
The road team scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal early in the second half as Roberto Insigne, who had subbed in at half time, stripped Biraghi deep and swiftly teed up Improta on the edge of the box. His teammate found the back of the net with a vicious daisy-cutter right in the bottom left corner, hitting the net for the first time in the season.
Prandelli tried to shake things up with few subs, as Erick Pulgar, Patrick Cutrone, and Pol Lirola replaced Duncan, Kouame and Igor, making the formation more offensive-minded, but the situation did not improve all that much and the opportunistic Sanniti continued creating tasty chances with quick forays.
In the 63rd minute, Dragowski parried away a threatening shot by Insigne from inside the box and a few minutes later Pezzella blocked a surefire shot by Moncini after a defensive miscue with a last-ditch intervention.
While Fiorentina continuously failed to combine properly in the final third, Insigne came close to scoring with a little curled shot on a botched clearance by Biraghi and Lapadula challenged Dragowski with a free kick in the top corner, but the goalkeeper saved it as the attempt was not too forceful.
The Gigliati had their lone major scoring opportunity at the 85th minute as Lirola escaped down the right flank and found Vlahovic with a perfect square ball, but Lorenzo Montipò was in the right spot to block the striker’s back-heel flick and Christian Maggio beat Gaetano Castrovilli to the punch on the potential tap-in.
The final push by Fiorentina did not amount to much and they stay reeling despite the coaching change.
MATCH REPORT
November 22, 2020 – Serie A 2020-2021 Round 8
FIORENTINA-BENEVENTO 0-1
SCORER: 52′ Improta
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FIORENTINA (4-2-3-1): Dragowski; Milenkovic, Pezzella, Igor (56′ Lirola), Biraghi; Amrabat (72′ Borja Valero), Duncan (56′ Pulgar); Kouame (56′ Cutrone), Castrovilli, Ribery (44′ Saponara); Vlahovic (Terracciano, Martinez Quarta, Bonaventura, Caceres, Venuti, Barreca, Eysseric) Coach: Prandelli |
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BENEVENTO (4-3-2-1): Montipò, Letizia (66′ Maggio), Glik, Caldirola, Barba; Hetemaj, Schiattarella, Ionita; Improta (83′ Tello), Sau (46′ Insigne); Moncini (78′ Lapadula) ( Manfredini, Lucatelli, Basit, Di Serio, Sanogo, Masella, Pastina) Coach: F. Inzaghi |
REFEREE: Mr. Ghersini from Genova
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Biraghi, Lirola (F), Glik, Letizia, Hetemaj (B); Extra Time: 1st Half 2′; 2nd Half: 6′
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