Pre-match

Ivan Jurić opted for Daniele Bessa over Mattia Zaccagni, with the Viola-affiliated trio of Nikola Kalinić, Marco Benassi, and Federico Ceccherini all either hurt or only partly fit. Giuseppe Iachini benched Gaetano Castrovill in favor of Sofyan Amrabat and went with Lucas Martínez Quarta in place of the suspended Nikola Milenković.

First half

Lorenzo Venuti slipped down the right and cut it back into the box, where Franck Ribery completely missed his touch. Luckily for Fiorentina, the ball trickled merrily along until an onrushing Giacomo Bonaventura cleverly stepped in front of Antonin Barak at the edge of the area, winning the clearest penalty you’ll see. Dušan Vlahović stepped up and made it 16 goals on the season and a perfect 4 of 4 from the spot.

Second half

Erick Pulgar lofted in a free kick from the left wing that Hellas Verona failed to clear, and it set up nicely for Martín Cáceres to power home his second of the year; weirdly enough, he seems to only score against former employers, so Lazio had better watch out.

Because this is Fiorentina, the Gialloblu got one back as Cristiano Biraghi, Cáceres, and Bartłomiej Drągowski (who was otherwise unbelievably good) lost sync and let Eddie Salcedo nod home a Marco Faraoni header.

Full time

Goals: Salcedo 72’ (ass. Faraoni); Vlahović PK 45’+2, Cáceres 65’

Cards: Günter 68’, Sturaro 90’+1; Bonaventura 19’, Kouamé 90’+3, Martínez Quarta 90’+5

What’s next

Fiorentina earn their first win in 7 games (the last one was against Udinese back in February) and get a big lift heading into a grudge match with Super League failures Juventus this weekend, although Bonaventura will be suspended due to yellow card accumulation. Perhaps more importantly, the Viola boost themselves into 13th (although Genoa, Spezia, and Torino have a game or two in hand) with 33 points, putting the pressure on Benevento and Cagliari to keep pace.

Verona, on the other hand, has now lost 6 of 7 and 3 straight; it’s pretty clear that these players, having reached 41 points, are already thinking about sand, ocean, and drinks with tiny umbrellas in them.