Fiorentina-Atalanta 1-0, Kean makes the Viola fly. Gasp must now watch his back

Florence, March 30, 2025 - A narrow victory, but much wider in performance. The Fiorentina bat Atalanta 1-0 thanks to the usual extraordinary goal Moise Kean and climbs into the hot zones of the standings, relaunching its odds for the Champions League as well. Atalanta not only says goodbye to its remaining chances of the Scudetto, but also finds itself sucked in by its rivals, with the Bologna now at minus two and the Juve at minus three. Bad performance by the Goddess, but superlative by the Viola who could have scored much more. It is a triumph at the Franchi, which now sees the team from the beginning of the season, the one that with a series of results had climbed into the Champions zone.

Kean in the corner pocket

Palladino chooses the top quality attacking pair with Gudmundsson in support of Kean, while Gasp goes with the heavy artillery and launches De Ketelaere behind Lookman and Retegui. Fiorentina tries to start with a good pace, with high pressing and courage, and in fact Atalanta starts tense, not finding any plots and struggling to get out of their own half of the field in a clean manner. The Goddess moves little in terms of freeing up and the ball holder doesn't have many solutions in front of goal, so it's the Viola who make the game despite lacking a pinch of quality in the finishing phase to create real goal opportunities. The first chance goes to Moise Kean who tries a right-footed shot from distance on a mistake between Hien and De Roon: ball wide. Atalanta's first real action, from Atalanta, also comes the danger in front of De Gea's goal. Retegui works a ball well in the band and filters the assistance for the insertion of Zappa costa, quick to read the movement of Lookman, who is blocked at the most beautiful moment. Not much happens in the goalkeepers' area in a balanced and hard-fought first half hour, perhaps dominated on points by Fiorentina, but in the end Carnesecchi is not called upon to make any major interventions. Atalanta, on the other hand, needs little space to set the levers of the fast men in motion and at 34' Bellanova in the open field he misses an easy assist towards Loookman in the center of the area, throwing away one of the few chances in the open field built by a quality maneuver. There is a lack of precision in the last sixteen meters in both teams and even the few attempted conclusions are wrong, see Retegui left-footed shot in the 41st minute with the ball well wide. In the 43rd minute a furious scramble is created in the Viola area on an inviting cross from Zappacosta, a mix-up between Retegui and Pablo Mari arises which leads to protests from both sides, then the right-footed shot from The Ketelaere is rejected by Ranieri. For the VAR everything is regular and it remains like that. There is not even time to restart the game that Fiorentina takes the lead, at the end of the first half, thanks to the usual progression of Kean who burns Hien and beats Carnesecchi in the lower corner. The defender's mistake is decisive as he lacks control and allows the attacker to fly away.

No reaction from Atalanta, Ranieri misses an encore

Gasperini doesn't make any changes at the start of the second half and waits for a reaction from his players, but it's Fiorentina who immediately become dangerous with a pass from Mandragora for Gudmundsson with Dijmsiti recovering in extremis and saving the potential 2-0. Always Fiorentina, this time with the curling conclusion of beans which finds Carnesecchi's hands in full extension. Gasp decides he has seen enough and opts for Maldini e Samardzic to try to wake up a team that was off and asleep. The choice is strong because the two best scorers, Lookman and Retegui, even go to the bench. The Goddess risks again at 60' with Kean which is always dangerous in the open field, but Carnesecchi chooses the right time of the exit. Atalanta sees itself around the hour mark with a close right-footed shot from Pasalic which is deflected by the defense after a good move by De Ketelaere. The Goddess goes out of balance and leaves space for a counterattack, where she feasts Kean which almost gets the second with a torpedo that goes off just above the crossbar. The blast of The Ketelaere in the 65th minute, the only one of his match, with a dangerous diagonal that gives the Franchi the shivers, then Gasp takes him off to make room for Brescianini. There are more second chances for Fiorentina than equalisers for the Goddess and on yet another defensive error by Gasperini's men it's up to Parisi to take flight, but the last choice is not correct and the defense saves itself in extremis. At 72' the Goddess' defense opens up like the Red Sea, it slips in Ranieri who trashes the second by kicking it at Carnesecchi to the disappointment of all Franchi. Gasp's last moves are Ruggeri and Cuadrado, hoping that something can be born on the wings. The assaults of the Bergamo team, very confused, do not yield profit, indeed often do nothing but open the Viola counterattack, where a constant difference in energy and electricity is perceived. Mandrake almost scores a great goal with a left foot while Franchi sings in unison, Atalanta instead seems to have none and makes mistakes with basic passes and plays, never giving the impression of being able to equalize. In fact, the Nerazzurri are not even able to put the last ball in the area and Fiorentina spends the recovery time in the other half of the field. It is a triumph for the Viola, who relaunch themselves in the good areas and now 'see' the Champions League again. Atalanta instead will have to look behind them and the trend is, for now, negative. From behind, many are coming for a place in the top four that will see, by force of circumstances, some excluded.