Pre-match

Fiorentina fielded almost the same XI that they did just 3 days ago against Sassuolo. Antonio Barecca and Igor were the only changes. Hellas Verona, on the other hand, switched things up quite a bit, although Federico Ceccherini was the only ex-Viola player available with Samuele di Carmine, Nikola Kalinić, and Marco Benassi all out injured.

First half

80 seconds after kickoff, Barecca made an idiotic challenge on Eddie Salcedo. While it probably wasn’t a penalty, it still took referee Francesco Fourneau over 6 minutes to confirm his decision.

It was Miguel Veloso who stepped up and put away the penalty.

10 minutes later, Gaetano Castrovilli threaded a pass into Dušan Vlahović in the area, where Koray Günter barged into his back. Fourneau pointed to the spot again (this time without the VAR delay) in what sure felt like a makeup call. And for the second game in a row, Dušan buried his penalty.

Second half

Uniformly hideous.

Full time

Goals: Vlahović 19’ PK; Veloso 8’ PK

Cards: Bonaventura 13’, Igor 69’; Dimarco 27’, Ceccherini 34’

What’s next

Fiorentina are still in 17th but are now level with Spezia on 11 points, pending the Aquilotti result against Inter Milan tomorrow. Fiorentina remain winless since Cesare Prandelli took the reigns and haven’t kept a clean sheet since the start of November. Hellas Verona, meanwhile, are unbeaten in 5 and have only lost on the road once this season. This result keeps them in 7th with 20 points, just 3 away from the European places, although Atalanta have 2 games in hand and could leap past them.