It was a tale of two goals at either end of the half for Fiorentina in the first period, with the visitors racing to a healthy advantage before the break. It started with Antonín Barák, who displayed a touch of composure to skip past a defender inside the penalty area, before powering a calm finish into the roof of the net after just 10 minutes. The 28-year-old’s celebration was understandably muted, given the fact he’d only made his loan switch to Fiorentina from Verona permanent on the final day of the January transfer window.
While they may have shown signs of shakiness at the back, Fiorentina never really looked like losing control of the contest and their cushion was made even more comfortable when Arthur Cabral netted just before the interval. Sweeping home a first-time volley from Rolando Mandragora’s corner-kick, Cabral’s fifth goal of the campaign looked to have put Fiorentina into an unassailable HT lead.
Unsurprisingly, given their two-goal advantage, the away side were keen to take their foot off the gas early in the second period. Regardless, they came closest to scoring the game’s third goal in the early part of the half, with a mixture of valiant defending and mistimed finishing preventing Jonathan Ikoné from sliding home what looked to be a certain goal. Verona flirted with a potential comeback, threatening the Fiorentina goal, without ever really fashioning a meaningful chance.
Instead, it was Fiorentina who added a third late on, with Cristiano Biraghi scoring a remarkable finish from inside his own half. Catching goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipò well off his line, the second-half substitute’s lofted free-kick sailed over the Verona shot-stopper and into the goal. It’s a seventh consecutive unbeaten meeting against Verona for Fiorentina, who move up to 12th with the victory.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Arthur Cabral (ACF Fiorentina)
