Serie A, Fiorentina beaten by Milan 1-2 THE NEWS
Milan also beats Franchi, scores with Loftus-Cheek and Leao and extends to second place in the standings, taking a +6 lead over Juventus who lost to Lazio in Rome. The Rossoneri team demonstrates that they are going through a great moment by scoring their fourth consecutive championship win, three of which away from home after those against Lazio and Verona.
Fiorentina is unable to achieve a positive result in the first match without general manager Joe Barone, who passed away on March 19th: the draw scored by Duncan lasted only a handful of minutes, an illusion in an evening in the memory of the manager commemorated before of the match with a maxi choreography that covered the Curva Fiesole and the Maratona (also dedicated to the Viola fans who died over the years), several banners and a minute of meditation concluded with the launch of white balloons by a group of children.
For the Italian team, which slipped to 10th place (but with one game less), this is the second internal defeat in 2024: Europe, at least in the championship, is moving away.
Stefano Pioli, dealing with many absences, replaced the suspended Theo Hernandez with Florenzi and preferred Chukwueze to Pulisic, otherwise a lineup without surprises with Leao on the left and Giroud as an attacking midfielder. Important exclusions also in Fiorentina on the pitch with mourning on their arms: Vincenzo Italiano initially left Nico Gonzalez on the bench who was the last to return from his national team commitments (Ikoné in his place) and relaunched Dodo and Koaumè who had not been starters since 14 September (the first ) and from 29 December (the second).
Beltran is inside in the attacking midfield also due to Bonaventura’s disqualification, Duncan in midfield for Arthur, confirmation as forward for Belotti.
Ready to go, Milan immediately went on the attack and came close to scoring with Chukwueze, Leao and Giroud but Terracciano was attentive. Fiorentina, contracted and often vulnerable at the back, still had a couple of chances with Belotti (well done Maignan) and Ikoné. The result broke the deadlock at the start of the second half when Milan capitalized on their offensive push with Loftus-Cheek triggered with a backheel by a Leao was disruptive and favored by an unfortunate slip by Milenkovic right in front of the goal. The Viola, however, managed to react immediately by equalizing with a razor from Duncan served by Belotti.
But the score changed again after a handful of minutes, with Leao as the protagonist who celebrated his 200th appearance for the Rossoneri in the best possible way, the 5th league goal for the Portuguese scored after a 50 meter run. Shortly thereafter Pioli replaced him with Okafor and later he also inserted Pulisic (who scored but was offside) and the former player Jovic, also to try to control a Fiorentina team which, with the push of its fans, was trying to straighten the match again before with Belotti (Maignan’s save), then with Mandragora stopped again by the Rossoneri goalkeeper. Italiano played everything in the final by inserting Nico Gonzalez and deploying the double center forward (Nzola was also in). But heart and pride were not enough for the Viola to avoid defeat on the saddest evening.
Leao: “We wanted to win in Florence. Future? I don’t know”
“It was our team’s goal to win here in Florence against Fiorentina. We hadn’t won here for a long time. It was difficult, Fiorentina played well. In the first half we could have scored 3 goals, in the second half we entered with the right mind.” Thus Leao at the end of the match won at the Franchi 2-1 against Fiorentina.
Thanks to his goal, Milan consolidated their second place in the standings: “The team, the team’s moment, when the team is well I feel better – said the Milan striker -. I’m happy with my teammates. Today I have to talk of Chukwueze because he played a great game; I’m very happy for him because he had delicate moments. I’m very happy for him.”
Leao also spoke about his future with the Rossoneri shirt: “I have a contract with Milan but I don’t know the future. I’m here with my head and heart, I feel good here and I’m happy here. I’m a man, I’m no longer a boy. I have to thank the club and society that brought me to this level.”
Italian: “did everything possible against this Milan”
At Fiorentina we are bitter about the defeat against Milan. “We did everything we had to do, especially in the first half to limit them because they are coming from an exciting moment. We wanted to lower their enthusiasm, limiting them and working man for man,” said Vincenzo Italiano.
“Three, four boys were exhausted and I took them off. Then we found their goalkeeper who made great saves. We shouldn’t have conceded that second goal and we did what we had to do within our power. We honored the memory of our director, the the boys gave their all – he added – We put Milan in difficulty.”
Finally, on his future: “For me, concentration must remain in these 13 matches, to get to the bottom of everything and stay focused. These conversations are not good because they can take away concentration. The pitch is more important than individual situations”, he said. concluded Italian.
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