Home sweet home! Fiorentina vanquished 3-2 in our Gewiss Stadium homecoming
Retegui, De Ketelaere and Lookman sealed the Nerazzurri's comeback
Atalanta couldn't ask for a better homecoming as the 2024/25 Serie A Enilive MD4 game and the team's seasonal first in a fully renewed Gewiss Stadium saw the Nerazzurri clinch a 3-2 comeback win at the end of a literal football and goal galore.
The visitors had the first chance of the game on 8 minutes when Carnesecchi punched away Mandragora's attempt. Then Fiorentina broke the deadlock in the 15th minute through Quarta, who capitalized on the point-blank rebound following Carnesecchi's save on Gosens' header. The hosts' retaliation followed suit on 21 minutes: after dribbling his way past his marker on the right flank, Lookman crossed the ball in for Retegui, who vanquished De Gea with a powerful header to make it 1-1. The purple side got back on top in the 32nd with Kean's tap-in. Back at it in the 36th, the opposing striker saw his finish from a tight angle negated by the post. Going all out in the closing minutes, not only did the Nerazzurri pull one back but they also turned it around in just a twist of the dial: first came De Ketelaere in the 45th, with the Belgian nodding in Éderson's assist from a free-kick situation from the right flank; followed by Lookman, who soloed Fiorentina's whole defence and snuck his way to the finishing move before cleaving his snooker shot past De Gea and into the bottom corner.
The hosts got off to a strong second-half start with Bellanova, whose pressing on an opposing back-pass proved itself fruitful and conducive to De Gea deflecting the Nerazzurro's finish out for a corner. On 49 minutes, Lookman couldn't find the target with his split finish after a give-and-go with Retegui. Fiorentina retaliated 60 seconds later with Kean, who finished wide off target. Atalanta got back on the offensive in the 75th: De Ketelaere cut through the box but found De Gea well alert on his angled finish. Barely a minute later, it fell to Zappacosta to challenge the opposing keeper with a point-blank attempt after gathering Lookman's pass. 78 minutes in and it was Pašalić who gave wings to Lookman, with De Gea pulling off another key save. Back at it in the 79th minute, the black-and-blue 77 saw his 79-minute finish fly off target by inches. 81 minutes on the stopwatch meant another chance for the Nerazzurri: De Ketelaere played on for Lookman, who saw his powerful albeit imprecise finish fly high off target.
ATALANTA 3-2 FIORENTINA
Scorers: Quarta 15 (F), Retegui 21 (A), Kean 32 (F), De Ketelaere 45 (A), Lookman 46 (A).
Atalanta: Carnesecchi, Djimsiti, Hien (Brescianini 46), Kolašinac, Bellanova, de Roon, Éderson, Ruggeri (Zappacosta 70), Lookman, Retegui (Pašalić 70), De Ketelaere.Unused subs: Rui Patrício, Rossi, Kossounou, Sulemana, Cuadrado, Zaniolo, Samardžić, Palestra, Comi. Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini.
Fiorentina: De Gea, Quarta, Ranieri (Pongracic 81), Biraghi, Dodo, Mandragora (62' Richardson), Cataldi (Adli 74), Bove (Sottil 74), Gosens, Colpani (Ikoné 62), Kean. Unused subs: Terracciano, Martinelli, Beltran, Comuzzo, Moreno, Kayode, Parisi. Coach: Raffaele Palladino.
Referee: Mr Juan Luca Sacchi from Macerata;
Assistant referees: Alessandro Costanzo from Orvieto and Matteo Passeri from Gubbio;
Fourth official: Alessandro Prontera from Bologna;
V.A.R.: Daniele Doveri from Roma 1;
A.V.A.R.: Francesco Meraviglia from Pistoia.
Notes: Bove (F), Hien (A), Mandragora (F), Richardson (F), Zappacosta (A), booked.