Atalanta came from behind twice to grab a hard earned point in Bergamo. Two goals from Muslimovic repaid the manager’s
faith in the striker. Fiorentina without
Mutu played well but couldn’t get a third to kill the game off.
The Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia
had a good crowd for this tough and vital clash of black and blue and
purple. The Orbici are tough at home and
la Viola is hard to score against away.
Neither side has its best player on the field so understudies would have
to step up and deliver.
Gigi Del Neri, gauche and
bespectacled, adopted a normal 4 4 2; strong defence, good width and a gamble
on a less than prolific striker were his choices.
Coppola keeps goal with a back
four of Rivalta, Pellegrino, Capelli and Manfredini. Ferreira Pinto and Langella provided width
with De Ascentis and Tissone providing the steel through the middle. Floccari keeps his place and Muslimovic gets
a rare start.
Prandelli stayed with his usual 4
3 3. Solid at the back with a good ‘keeper,
young talent in the midfield with a potent (not his best with Mutu absent) attacking
combination. Frey keeps goal with a back
four of Ujfalusi (who is likely to leave on a free in June, Dianelli, Gamberini
(freshly bolstered by his Azzurri call up) and Pasqual. Donadel and Montolivo; they can tackle
although the range of their passing is the key to la Viola’s potent attack;
work alongside the deeper lying Kuzmanovic in the middle. Santana and Semioli operate wider and just
behind the free scoring Pazzini.
The first two chances in an open
game involve fullbacks. Manfredini gets
forward and when things open up he gets ambitious with a volley from the left,
Ujfalusi gets forward on the right and sends in a good cross only for Pazzini
to head wide.
Both teams operate from a strong
defensive position, Atalanta rely on the width getting balls into the energetic
strikers, who are all troublesome runs and flicks. Fiorentina rely on the passing of Donadel and
Montolivo from the centre out to the flanks and balls into the channels, the
three pronged attack can pull the back four around a lot as well opening up
dangerous spaces.
Neither team is about sitting
back though, the ball is always moved forward, Atalanta is more direct than the
visitors.
De Ascentis has to concentrate
more on his tackling than his passing as Donadel is seeing a lot of the ball
early on, his passing is allowing Fiorentina to dictate the play and apply
pressure to the home side.
Neither side can build up enough
steam to create much in front of goal.
Things are ebbing and flowing
nicely when a flurry of plays unfold. Muslimovic
gets onto a Floccari flick and shoots wide, Manfredini gets a card and knock on
the head from a Viola elbow, Santana gets to the byline and whips a good cross
in; more dangerous than the crosses that have been coming from deeper. Manfredini is replaced by Belleri, certainly
feeling the after effects of an elbow to the temple. The goal comes in short order with Donadel
the creator, his ball picks out the run of Santana and the ball in finds
Pazzini, the ex-Atalanta player takes a touch then spins and forces it past
Coppola.
MUTED GOAL CELEBRATION FROM THE FORMER ATALANTA MAN
The Stadio momentarily fills with
a horrible silencio.
Within a minute the scores are
level. Fiorentina don’t clear a corner
and the ball back in from Belleri finds the unmarked Muslimovic who thunders
the ball into the net. Faith in his him
by Del Neri is repaid.
The flurry subsides and both
sides resume a tactical battle of cut and thrust, quick balls over the top and
last ditch challenges. A couple of half
chances go begging and Atalanta is gaining the upper hand with control of the
midfield.
Both sides come out as they went
in.
The attacking desire continues
from the first whistle, half chances being created at either end as the temp is
raised and the ball flies from end to end.
The first moments of the second
half belong to Atalanta, Langella and Pinto are full of running on the flanks
and the simple passing of De Ascentis are allowing the Orbici to build up a
head of steam.
Donadel is focusing more on
defence and Montolivo takes up the attacking duties, his astute and accurate
passing hauls the balance back in to the game and slowly tips it towards la
Viola.
Santana makes the most of the
ascendancy with a good ball down the right channel, Pazzini latches onto it and
lays the ball out wide, without breaking stride Kuzmanovic crosses well and
Semioli is on hand in the six yard box to head home.
SEMIOLO CELEBRATES WITH HIS TEAMMATES
Atalanta is nothing if not
obdurate and a combination of tough tackling and hard running start to push
Fiorentina back. Langella and Kuzmanovic
get involved in an off the ball incident, the veteran Atalanta players almost
immediately makes way for Inzaghi; he’s lucky to be able to be subbed as the
incident with Kuzmanovic didn’t seem to be picked up by the officials. Kuzmanovic is replaced by the excellent
simplicity and versatility of Jorgenson before the youngster’s temper finds an
outlet.
A Muslimovic card for dissent
seems to spark a feistier aspect to the already high adrenaline game, the tempo
is increased as the home side tries all they can to get an equalizing
goal. Fiorentina are manfully handling
the pressure without being pushed too deep, they also carry the threat of the
counter attack.
The quality of Doni is missed,
Inzaghi has the ball taken away from him by Gamberini before he can pull the
trigger and Belleri crosses poorly after skinning Ujfalusi on the byline.
Fiorentina are professional, hard
working as they try to slow the game down and earn all three points. Vieri comes on for his ball holding ability
and new Atlanta signing Paolucci is introduced to add some pace to the attack,
with the change Del Neri’s side move to a more attacking 4 3 3.
The final few minutes provide a
fitting end to a highly entertaining and well fought contest. Vieri looks to run out time and heads to the
byline, when the space opens up he whips in a great cross which sees Coppola
leave his area to clear the ball, with the ‘keeper well out of position
Fiorentina cross tamely, Atalanta break with pace and gusto through Tissone, he
finds Inzaghi who draws in the defence then lays the ball wide, the cross in is
perfect for Muslimovic to slip behind his marker and stab home from six yards
out. The Stadio Atleti erupts
thunderously and Del Neri is ecstatic.
TWO GOAL MAN OF THE MATCH IN RELAXED MOOD DURING TRAINING
Del Neri will be concerned at the
goals but well pleased with his sides attacking and hard work, faith in
Muslimovic has been repaid with two poacher’s goals and a point from a game
with a top four side is a decent result.
Del Neri is morphing Atalanta into a side that can challenge for a UEFA
Cup place.
Prandelli will rue his side’s
inability to keep a lead. For most of
the last twenty five minutes they handled Atalanta well and professionally,
Vieri’s cross almost led to a goal but had he just settled for the corner flag
the three points would have been the visitors’.
His youthful side has a tough stretch in the next month or so which will
make or break their season, maintaining a UEFA Cup challenge and staying in the
top four are not too dissimilar to the challenges faced by Fiorentina’s likely
opponents if they make it through to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup.
The commentator put it
brilliantly – “Do they have the bottle to stay in fourth spot? Today they have been shown to have a bit of a
glass jaw.”
The referee was OK. Some of the calls that Atalanta didn’t get
seemed harsh but his bookings were all justified and he didn’t see Langella and
Kuzmanovic get shirty. The trend in
Italian officiating seems to be to let play go on.
