The spoils were shared in the 30th round of the 2022-2023 Serie A TIM at the Stadio Franchi in Florence, as it ended 1-1 against Fiorentina at the end of a hard-fought match.
The Viola threatened in the opening minutes of the game with a Quarta header that skimmed the post on two minutes and a Cabral finish that was beaten away by Sportiello in the 16th minute. A Gonzalez curler skimmed the top corner in the 20th minute and four minutes later, Sportiello had to make a huge save to parry Cabral’s header amid a melee. Gasperini’s men tried to break the deadlock through a quick Højlund effort and a Zapata finish from the edge of the box, but it was Mæhle who actually opened the scoring on 37 minutes with a solo effort, as he ran through a gap in the centre of the defence and dinked it over Terracciano, giving Atalanta the lead before half-time.
Fiorentina had a go in the opening minutes of the second half through Barak and Castrovilli, but the incident that proved decisive came in the 56th minute after a VAR review, when referee Guida awarded the hosts a penalty – amid protests from the Nerazzurri – which Cabral converted to level the score. The final minutes of the game were lively and intense: Biraghi hit the base of the post directly from a free kick in the 73rd minute and Sportiello made a sensational one-hand save to block Bonaventura’s close-range header on the line on 93 minutes. The last chance of the game, however, came off the Nerazzurri on 96 minutes when Boga intercepted a back-pass and sparked the Atalanta counter-attack, but then failed to find Muriel with his pass, freezing the scoreline at 1-1 at the Stadio Franchi.
The team will promptly head back to work tomorrow, Tuesday 18 April, as a morning training session is scheduled to take place at the Centro Bortolotti in Zingonia behind closed doors.
FIORENTINA 1-1 ATALANTA
Scorers: Mæhle 37 (A), Cabral pen 56 (F).
Fiorentina: Terracciano, Dodo, Quarta, Milenkovic, Terzic (Biraghi 71), Castrovilli (Bianco 92), Mandragora, Ikoné (Brekalo 46, Sottil 64), Barak (Bonaventura 64), Gonzalez, Cabral. Bench: Cerofolini, Vannucchi, Jovic, Saponara, Ranieri, Venuti, Duncan, Kayode, Igor, Kouamé. Coach: Vincenzo Italiano.
Atalanta: Sportiello, Toloi, Djimsiti, Scalvini (Palomino 77), Zappacosta, de Roon, Éderson, Mæhle, Koopmeiners, Højlund (Muriel 70), Zapata (Boga 84). Bench: Musso, Rossi, Okoli, Demiral, Bernasconi, Muhameti, Soppy. Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini.
Referee: Marco Guida from Torre Annunziata.
Assistant referees: Luca Mondin from Treviso and Gaetano Massara from Reggio Calabria.
Fourth official: Ermanno Feliciani from Teramo.
V.A.R.: Michael Fabbri from Ravenna.
A.V.A.R.: Gianluca Manganiello from Pinerolo.
Notes: Mæhle (A), Éderson (A), Toloi (A) and Quarta (F) booked.
