Viola in complete control: Sottil, Nico Gonzalez twice, Martinez Quarta and Barak score. Neroverdi with water up to his throat
Reduces from painful elimination in Italian Cup in the semi-final against Atalantathe Florentine he immediately redeems himself and does so by exaggerating against a battered man Sassuolo. Al Franchi ends 5-1 thanks to goals from Thin (for him too two assists)the double Of Nico Gonzalez (also for him an assist in the only second half played) and the goals of Martinez Quarta and Barak. The goal of the temporary 2-1 of the neroverdi scored by was useless Thorstvedt. Italian smiles, as he closes Napoli to 50 points with a game to recover, and further sinks Ballardini, second to last, five points behind fourth-last place Frosinone, Empoli and Verona with only four games to play.
THE MATCH
Franchi witnessed a real show from Fiorentina, who dominated against Sassuolo and defeated them 5-1 with a dream second half: the moment that changed the match was the entry of Nico Gonzalez, who scored a brace. Ballardini lines up his team with a very defensive 4-4-1-1, which sees two central defenders (Ruan and Viti) as full-backs and Doig high on the left, but the move does not block the rivals. Fiorentina pushes from the very first minutes against a Sassuolo who is apnea and very low on the pitch, and passes in the 17th minute: Volpato loses the ball, Sottil takes off and puts it in the corner to make it 1-0. The Tuscans dominate, hitting the crossbar with Parisi (28′) and challenging Consigli in the final half: the goalkeeper did well to save on Barak, the Italian applauded him. In the second half Ballardini tries to overbalance, introducing Bajrami and Mulattieri, but Sassuolo collapses completely. Martinez Quarta made it 2-0 by coming in and hitting a header against a poorly deployed defense, and Thorstvedt’s immediate goal (57′) was canceled out by Nico Gonzalez’s goal after half a minute.
The Argentine, having entered the second half, scored a trio of headers and was the deus ex machina of the Viola’s super second half. Barak drops the poker in the 62nd minute and three minutes later Nico himself scores his personal double: it’s 5-1 for Fiorentina in the 65th minute, with the Viola also coming close to scoring a sixth goal and putting on a real offensive show. Nico Gonzalez goes close to the net again, then Italiano orders his players to conserve their energy for Thursday and lift their foot. Fiorentina wins, catching Napoli in eighth place with 50 points: the teams will compete for a place in the Conference, but the Viola have a game to make up and can also look ahead. Sassuolo, who had defeated the Tuscans in the first leg, remain second to last with 26 points and are now at great risk: Ballardini and his team are -5 from safety with only four matches to play, after a shock performance.
REPORT CARDS
Nico Gonzalez 8 – He comes in and raises hell in twenty-five minutes. Two goals that close the game, an assist for Barak and at least five chances created together with his teammates. In an evening that started from the bench, he demonstrates how fundamental he is.
Thin 7.5 – The son of art was simply unmarkable, opening the scoring and having a perfect evening. He sets the left lane on fire and also provides two assists, providing an indispensable contribution in the very poker-faced Viola.
Martinez Fourth 7 – Perfect evening for the Viola centre-back, who becomes the leader of the rearguard seen with the rest period for Milenkovic. He leaps ahead of Ranieri with the second goal in as many games, also finishing as captain.
Volpato 4.5 – He has the 1-0 goal on his conscience and continues to be unrecognizable compared to the qualities shown in Roma’s Primavera. The context doesn’t help, but he always appears to be in difficulty.
Ferrari 4 – He collapsed together with the entire Sassuolo defence, constantly being attacked by Fiorentina’s attackers. He never manages to read the movements of Nico Gonzalez, Barak and his companions. The nightmarish evening ends with the risk of a serious injury.
THE SCORESHEET
FIORENTINA-SASSUOLO 5-1
Fiorentina (4-2-3-1): Christensen 6; Kayode 6.5, Martinez Quarta 7 (25′ st Comuzzo 6), Ranieri 6.5, Parisi 6.5; Arthur 6.5 (35′ st Lopez sv), Duncan 6.5; Ikoné 6 (1′ st Gonzalez 8), Barak 7.5, Sottil 7.5 (38′ st Castrovilli sv); Kouamé 6.5 (25′ st Belotti 6). Available: Terracciano, Martinelli, Dodò, Biraghi, Milenkovic, Bonaventura, Beltran, Infantino, Faraoni. All. Italian.
Sassuolo (4-4-1-1): Tips 5.5; Ruan 4.5 (20′ st Missori 5.5), Kumbulla 4.5, Ferrari 4, Viti 5.5 (1′ st Mulattieri 5.5); Volpato 4.5 (1′ st Bajrami 5.5), Boloca 5 (27′ st Ceide 5.5), Obiang 5 (20′ st Matheus Henrique 5.5), Doig 5.5; Thorstvedt 6; Pinamonti 5. Available: Pegolo, Cragno, Pedersen, Erlic, Racic, Toljan, Lipani. All. Ballardini.
Referee: Marcenaro
Markers: 17′ Sottil (F), 9′ st Martinez Quarta (F), 12′ st Thorstvedt (S), 13′ st Gonzalez (F), 17′ st Barak (F), 20′ st Gonzalez (F)
Warned: Ruan (S), Martinez Quarta (F), Thorstvedt (S), Comuzzo (F)
THE STATISTICS
Only Jeremie Frimpong (13) and Álex Grimaldo (11) have scored more goals than Lucas Martínez (eight) among defenders in the current Big-5 European championships across all competitions.
Nicolás González recorded his record for scoring in a single season in Serie A: nine, in 25 appearances; in addition, the Argentine striker scored his first double in the competition this evening.
Sassuolo is the team against which Antonín Barák has scored the most goals in Serie A: five, four of which in the last three matches with the neroverdi in the league.
Among midfielders born after 1/1/1999, only Charles De Ketelaere (seven) and Andrea Colpani (eight) have scored more goals than Kristian Thorstvedt in the 2023/24 Serie A (six).
Arthur provided two assists in the same match for the second time in the Big-5 European championships – after those served on 6 October 2019 (two vs Sevilla in a Barcelona shirt).
Only Salernitana (23) and Frosinone (20) have conceded more goals than Sassuolo in the first half hour of play this Serie A (19).
Sassuolo conceded five goals in an away match in Serie A for the first time since 30 April 2022 (1-6 vs Napoli on that occasion).
Since last season (22/23), only Roma (52) have hit the woodwork more than Fiorentina among Serie A teams in all competitions (51).
Since the beginning of February, only Inter (18 in eight matches) have scored more home goals than Fiorentina in Serie A (16 but in six matches).
Only Milan (10) have conceded more goals from outside the area than Sassuolo this season (nine).
No team has suffered more defeats away from home than Sassuolo in this championship: 12, like Salernitana.
Riccardo Sottil has scored two goals in 22 appearances this season – both in home games; the Italian striker is one goal away from the season scoring record in Serie A (three, with Fiorentina in 2021/22).
