The players of Fiorentina won in the seventh round of Serie A at home over AC Milan 2:1. The Rossoneri took unwanted inspiration from the afternoon match of the Spanish top flight, because, just like Bilbao, they threw away two penalty kicks. Nevertheless, the Lombards long cherished the hope of gaining points. The violets, who also did not convert a penalty in the first half, dealt their opponent a decisive blow only in the 73rd minute thanks to Albert Gudmundsson.
Fiorentina have suffered only one defeat in their previous 11 Serie A home matches, which came against the Rossoneri in March this year. The violets had a real desire to take revenge on their opponent. And so it happened, as Fiorentina already caused a lot of problems for AC in a first half full of interesting action. After a slow opening quarter of an hour, the game came alive when a penalty was awarded after Theo Hernández’s foul on Dodo in the penalty area, but Moise Kean headed it only to the prepared Mike Maignan.
Home side Fiorentina could have collapsed after this setback, but they soon got a goal they certainly deserved for their effort. Ironically, it was AC Milan regular Yacine Adli who broke the deadlock when he curled a shot against the post from inside the penalty area. The visitors pushed forward and tried to equalize. They soon had a fantastic opportunity when Luca Ranieri tripped Tijjani Reijnders in the penalty area. However, just like at the other end, the goalkeeper distinguished himself when David De Gea headed Hernández’s free-kick wide of the three posts.
The excitement carried over into the second half and before long referee Luca Pairetto was pointing to the penalty mark for the third time in the game as the active Keane was fouled by Matteo Gabbia. Tammy Abraham was given responsibility after Hernández’s previous miss, but it didn’t change the result as De Gea pulled off another stunning save. Some may have wondered why the in-form Christian Pulisič didn’t take the penalty.
However, AC did not break even this moment. Pulisic found Hernández’s ball at the back post and headed it into the net with a first-time shot. Soon came another key moment of the thrilling match. A long ball from De Gea was skilfully buried by Kean, so that Gudmundsson aimed a millimetre-precisely into the corner of Milan’s goal from behind the penalty area. The scoreboard showed 2:1 from the 73rd minute until the final whistle. The result ended the Rossoneri’s run of three straight wins in Serie A, while their opponents moved up to 11th with a valuable scalp.
