Second consecutive defeat for Fiorentina in the championship, this time 1-2 against Udinese at the Franchi, and unfortunately it also happens in front of Edoardo Bove. The Viola midfielder sat on the bench, thanks to a special exemption, he was able to watch the match and be close to his teammates, after the illness that struck him last December 1st during the match against Inter. A knockout that comes after 19 championship days played at the Franchi without defeats for Fiorentina.
Despite the freezing cold and the Christmas holidays, over 20 thousand fans were present at the Franchi. For the first time in the season Palladino had to give up Dodo (suspended) and in his place he fielded the young Kayode, while he gave some rest (at least initially) to Gudmundsson who recently had often been deployed from the first minute.
On the other hand, Runjaic had to give up Bijol at the last moment due to muscle fatigue. Four minutes of play and immediately the episode that changes the result of the match: Sottil is knocked down in the area by Kristensen but Marcenaro continues. Indeed, he warns Sottil for protesting after he very decisively asked for a penalty kick. After a few minutes, referee Marcenaro was called back by the VAR and there the decision was made to decree the penalty kick for Fiorentina, which was then scored by Kean. After the goal, Fiorentina lowered their center of gravity, trying to attack above all with quick counterattacks. On the other hand, Udinese tries to find the equalizer but fails to worry the Viola defense too much.
Fiorentina started the second half a little too softly and Udinese immediately took advantage of it in the 49th minute when captain Ranieri completely missed a pass in the area with the ball ending up in Lucca who didn't miss the opportunity to beat De Gea.
A minute later the Udinese striker came close to doubling the score with an overhead kick in the Viola area, following a corner kick, luckily for Fiorentina the ball hit the post. In the 57th minute Udinese reversed the result: the ball on the right for captain Thauvin who aimed at Gosens, centralized and found the bottom corner to De Gea's right. A nice goal. In the 61st minute Palladino tries to change something by inserting Mandragora and Gudmundsson for Adli and Beltran. In the 69th minute Fiorentina has the chance to equalize: Cataldi recovers the ball in the midfield, central ball to Kean at the edge of the area who tries to place it on the far post but the ball chips the external part of the lego and ends up on the bottom. Then, in the 74th minute, Kean himself made an incredible mistake with an empty net (freed by a nice header in the area by Kouame) but at the moment of touching inside the empty net the Viola attacker lost the moment trying to avoid to hit the pole squarely with his body. In the 88th minute Ikoné also tries, shooting with a sure shot from inside the area: this time Sava makes a great save.
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