Pre-match

Gian Piero Gasperini benched Papu Gómez and lost Josip Iličić to illness, so Ruslan Malinovskiy and Matteo Pessina both started. Cesare Prandelli, on the other hand, benched Franck Ribery, José Callejón, Martín Cáceres, and Gaetano Castrovilli (who may be carrying a knock) and introduced Pol Lirola, Giacomo Bonaventura, Lorenzo Ventui, and Valentin Eysseric (making his first start for Fiorentina in over 2 years).

First half

The heroic Bartłomiej Drągowski couldn’t do anything after Duván Zapata forced his way into the box and centered for an unmarked Robin Gosens to slide home.

Second half

The impressive Ruslan Malinovskiy doubled the lead with a peachy of a free kick after Nikola Milenković fouled Duván Zapata. You have to think that Nicky could’ve blocked it if he’d jumped in the wall, especially with Giacomo Bonaventura lying on the ground behind the wall, but it was still well taken and gave Drągowski no chance.

The third came via another set piece. This time, Berat Djimsiti met Malinovskiy’s corner at the front post. He was left unmolested to flick it on to the back post, where Rafael Toloi was somehow unmarked in between four defenders to head home.

Full time

Goals: Gosens 44’ (ass. Zapata), Malinovskiy 54’

Cards: Romero 67’; Amrabat 54’, Ribery 80’

What’s next

Atalanta rise to 8th with a game in hand. Fiorentina stand pat at 17th, just 3 ahead of Genoa and the final relegation spot. Should the Grifoni upend Juventus, they’d pull even on points. It’s just another pleasant indication that this Fiorentina is abjectly bad.