Fiorentina beat Sassuolo 4-2 with Mastantuono's 79th-minute winner, ending 52-day run

Fiorentina end a 52-day wait for a win

Fiorentina beat Sassuolo 4-2 on Monday, 2 November, a Serie A result that ended a run of 52 days without a victory. The last previous win had come on 11 September, and the club had been sitting in the relegation zone before the match. Fiorentina is on its second coach of the season, with Paolo Vanoli in charge. AP reports that the win lifted the side to 15th in the 20-team top flight, while SAPO lists Fiorentina 16th with eight points, so the table position depends on which report is read.

How the goals came

Sassuolo opened the scoring when Armand Laurienté converted in the 25th minute, and Mateo Pellegrino equalised in first-half stoppage time. Alieu Njie put Fiorentina ahead early in the second half, in the 50th minute, before Laurienté struck again in the 65th minute to level the score for the hosts. Franco Mastantuono, in his first Serie A campaign since arriving from Real Madrid, scored the winner in the 79th minute, and AP says the goal came after a pass from Pedro Gonçalves. Víctor Valdepeñas added the fourth goal in stoppage time, at 90+3, and ANSA describes it as a counterattack.

Gonçalves and Vanoli's comments

Pedro Gonçalves, a Portuguese international on loan from Sporting, came off the bench and needed only two minutes on the pitch before setting up the winner, according to Notícias ao Minuto. SAPO notes that he has played eight matches for Fiorentina, only one of them as a starter, and has one assist in 161 minutes for the club alongside a goal in the Coppa Italia. Asked about fielding Gonçalves alongside Mastantuono and Pellegrino in a 4-2-3-1, Vanoli said he had the right players to test different tactical solutions and that availability, not quality alone, was the real issue. After the match the coach singled out Gonçalves and the right-back João Mário as examples of professionalism, as reported by SAPO.

Sassuolo and the wider round

Sassuolo suffered a fourth consecutive defeat and sits 17th on goal difference, according to AP. SAPO lists Sassuolo level on eight points with Fiorentina and Parma. In the same round, Parma beat Atalanta 3-0 in Bergamo, with Giovanni Fabbian scoring in the 41st minute, a Davide Zappacosta own goal after the break and Simone Lontani adding the third in the 58th minute. Atalanta, which has won only one of its last seven matches, stood 13th with no more than 11 points, per SAPO.