Atalanta vs Fiorentina: Coppa Italia 2021-2022

Fresh off a spanking courtesy of Lazio, Fiorentina went into the Coppa Italia with a veil of dread. After all, Atalanta are one of Italy’s most potent attacking teams, and the Viola had conceded 3 second half goals to a lesser opponent at home just days before. Desperate for a big result to reverse the negative momentum building around the club, Vincenzo Italiano must have known how important this one was.

The game started energetically, albeit a bit sloppily, but Fiorentina took an early lead after Marten de Roon stepped on Nicolás González’ ankle juuuust inside the penalty area and, after a VAR check, referee Michael Fabbri pointed to the spot, allowing Krzysztof Piątek to slot home for his second Coppa Italia goal of the campaign. Davide Zappacosta canceled that out with a wondergoal, though, and la Dea rocked Fiorentina onto their heels for much of the remainder of the half, including a Jeremie Boga shot off the upright.

The second half resumed with the hosts dominating, and they made it pay after Boga beat Gaetano Castrovilli and Lucas Martínez Quarta far too easily before finishing past Pietro Terracciano. It felt a bit dire, but Teun Koopmeiners stuck a foot way in the air and caught Youssef Maleh in the box to concede an idiotic penalty, which Piątek finished (albeit after Juan Musso saved his first effort). Lucas Martínez Quarta earned his second yellow not long after for an open-field foul on Luis Muriel, but Fiorentina stood firm and, with the last kick of the game, watched Nikola Milenković volley a laser-guided blast from outside the area into the bottom corner for a famous and deeply unlikely win to propel themselves to a semifinal matchup with Juventus.

As usual, we’ve got all our coverage right here. Enjoy.