Atalanta 2-3 Fiorentina: Tello inspired Viola add to Orobici woes

Published on: 21 February 2016

Fiorentina defeated Atalanta 3-2 at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia on Sunday afternoon.

Goals from Matias Fernandez, Cristian Tello and Nikola Kalinic saw Fiorentina continue their unbeaten streak against the Orobici, who remain without a win in 11 games , as a late strikes from Andrea Conti  and Mauricio Pinilla were not enough to ensure a comeback for the hosts.

La Dea started the match full of confidence, passing the ball around swiftly and keeping hold of possession, though their brave start was almost undone in the ninth minute by Fiorentina stalwart Manuel Pasqual.

Having been gifted a direct free-kick from a tight angle, the Italian chose to fire a powerful shot towards the near post, though luckily for the Atalanta faithful goalkeeper Marco Sportiello was on hand to produce a fine dive and parry the ball away.

Boukary Drame and Alejandro Gomez then spurned two clear chances at goal. Drame was left free at the back post yet headed into the outstretched body of Ciprian Tatarusanu, before the speedy Argentine threw him self at ground upon receiving a cross from Marco D’Alessandro, instead of attempting to beat the Romanian keeper.

With neither side able to break the deadlock, tempers began to boil as early as the 15th minute, with Mauricio Pinilla and Khouma Babacar both picking up yellow cards for dissent prior to Drame hacking down Cristian Tello for the third yellow in under 60 seconds.

The remainder of the first half tailed off as both teams knocked the ball around the pitch, however, the action finally picked up after half time following the introduction of Nikola Kalinic.

Brought in on the hour mark, Kalinic’s substitution had an immediate impact for the visitors, as he smartly laid off balls for team-mates and allowed more space for Tello on the right wing.

The Croatian proved the perfect decoy for Tello’s ensuing cross, pulling the home side’s defence away from the on-waiting Matias Fernandez, who headed calmly into the back of the net.

In the reaming 10 minutes, the match fully came to life, with Tello and Kalinic involved in play once more putting the ball past Sportiello twice for a comfortable lead, whilst Andrea Conti and Pinilla made life difficult with two late goals of their own.

Fiorentina were able to hold on, sending them four clear of Inter on 52 points. Meanwhile, Conti’s late expulsion will provide a headache for Edoardo Reja who is still searching for his side’s first win all year.

Source: forzaitalianfootball.com

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
Learn more