Fiorentina 1-2 Cagliari: Match report

Pre-match

Neither side made any shocking changes. Manor Solomon got his first Viola start in place of the injured Fabiano Parisi. Fiorentina’s badge got an update in memory of the late Rocco Commisso.

There was also an impressive pre-game display from the club ahead of kickoff and a moment of silence that went better than last week’s in Bologna.

On a smaller scale, we also learned of the passing of Jay Francisco, better known around these parts as slakas. He was the site boss for a while and a regular commenter, one of the pillars of the community who oversaw the move from the Offside to SB Nation. He was already one of the protagonists here when I started reading the site nearly 20 years ago. Forza slakas!

First half

The pattern of play was established almost immediately in this one: Cagliari sat deep and looked to counter while Fiorentina tried to break the Isolani down, largely without success. It was a lot of huffing and puffing with little to show for the hosts, but the visitors looked like causing problems when pouncing on the all-too-frequent mistakes in possession, particularly by Pietro Comuzzo. The breakthrough was on the Ginger Prince too, as he completely lost Semih Kiliçsoy on the break despite checking his shoulder. Robin Gosens gets some blame too for not slowing down Marco Palestra on the wing, but it was a team effort to lose the ball and not get back like that.

The Viola created a couple of chaotic moments in the Sardinians’ box, mostly through set pieces, but never really looked like equalizing despite Albert Guðmundsson having a very good chance to do just that. Instead, Cagliari stubbornly sat in its deep block and frustrated the hosts with good defensive organization and very rugged defending while still providing the occasional threat, mostly by winning duels.

Second half

Fiorentina took the halftime break to focus, regather its energy, get on the same page, and concede immediately. Debutante Gioavnni Fabbian had his pass picked off and Cagliari burst forward unopposed on the break, shifting the ball across the pitch until it found Palestra, who had all the time in the world to smoke it into the far corner. It was a staggering lack of defensive effort from the Viola, who didn’t track back and fully deserved to concede again.

Did it get better? Dear reader, it did not. Now fully entrenched with a 2-goal lead, Cagliari hunkered down and did exactly what we expected: defended deep, manhandled its opposition, and generally played like a bunch of bastards. They did it very well, too, even coming close to grabbing a third via Kiliçsoy but for Cher Ndour’s lucky block. Fiorentina huffed and puffed, bringing on Jack Harrison (at leftback) and Marco Brescianini, but the lack of another striker—Moise Kean was in the stands—seemed crippling. Fortunately, Brescianini scored a great striker’s goal, turning home a low Dodô cross to open his Viola account.

Smelling blood, Fiorentina went on the attack. Brescianini somehow missed a close-range header that he really should’ve turned home and Elia Caprile made a critical intervention to prevent an equalizer moments later. The Viola kept huffing and puffing, with Brescianini as the obvious protagonist, but Cagliari’s house of sticks stayed upright no matter how hard the hosts blew. David de Gea nearly threw it away late but made a good save after his own dumb giveaway, but it ended up not mattering at all.

Full time

Goals: Brescianini 74’ (ass. Dodô); Kiliçsoy 31’ (ass. Palestra), Palestra 47’ (ass. Esposito)

Cards: Pongračić 56’, Comuzzo 90’+1; Caprile 63’, Mina 85’, Zé Pedro 32’

What we learned

-With Edin Džeko’s sold and Moise Kean injured, Piccoli’s the only number 9 on the roster aside from Riccardo Braschi, who’s never played at senior level. If the Moose is going to miss more time, the Viola may need another striker because Bobby Smalls never looked like making an impact against his former employer.

-Vanoli admirably stuck by the guys who produced results, refusing to bench them even as ballyhooed new signings tumbled into the squad, but the loss means now he can start chopping and changing. I assume that Brescianini’s in for good now, as he was the obvious protagonist of the final half hour. Fabbian, Harrison, and Solomon weren’t as impressive but could earn a look too.

-Really bad day at the office for Pietro Comuzzo but I also have a feeling that Semih Kiliçsoy is going to create a lot of bad days at the office for a lot of defenders. That guy is for real.

-Cagliari’s whole plan was to sit deep, kick the everloving bejeezus out of anything in a purple shirt, and pounce on mistakes. That’s how the Isolani have played since I started watching Serie A. It’s very irritating that Fiorentina wasn’t ready for that and I don’t know if you blame the players, Vanoli, or the trickster god that created this accursed club, but the guys weren’t ready at all.

What’s next

The defeat means that Lecce’s got a chance to put some space between itself and Fiorentina with a result against struggling Lazio later today. With just 16 games left in Serie A, I think survival might well come down to the wire for the Viola. They’ve improved over the past month but this one shows that they’re still vulnerable, even to other bottom-half sides.

Vanoli doesn’t get long to iron out the wrinkles, of course, because red-hot Como comes to town for the Coppa Italia round of 16 on Tuesday; having just hammered Torino 6-0, the Lariani are in 5th place and bursting with confidence. After that ordeal, Fiorentina takes the long trip down to Napoli on short rest, which bodes ill. Anything approaching a result in either of those games would have to be at least a moral victory.