It was an emotionally charged evening for the Viola, as the club remembered the life of former defender Davide Astori, who died five years ago to the day. Fans and players alike joined in with a minute’s applause after play was stopped with 13 minutes on the clock, symbolising his Fiorentina squad number.
Seemingly spurred on by Astori’s memory, Vincenzo Italiano’s side started the match brightly, with Mike Maignan called into action on several occasions to keep out Giacomo Bonaventura’s free-kick and two attempts from Nicolás González. Bonaventura came even closer to breaking the deadlock when he almost diverted a close-range effort past Maignan, but the Rossoneri’s blushes were saved by Fikayo Tomori’s goalline clearance. Viola goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano was largely a spectator in the contest, but was forced to keep out Olivier Giroud's first-time shot after the Frenchman was superbly picked out by Ismaël Bennacer.
After failing to find a breakthrough before the interval, Fiorentina were awarded a penalty just two minutes after the restart when Tomori clumsily challenged Jonathan Ikoné, and González made no mistake from the spot to give the hosts a well-deserved lead. Giroud then almost restored parity with another header, this time from a corner, but Terracciano was there to deny the French forward once again. The goal seemed to spark a previously dormant Milan side to life, as Terracciano made himself big to thwart Theo Hernández.
After a second-half lull, Stefano Pioli freshened things up with the introduction of Zlatan Ibrahimović, Divock Origi and Tiémoué Bakayoko. However, it was Italiano’s men that came close to extending their lead, but Dodô was unable to poke the ball past Maignan following a mazy run through Milan's defence. Pioli’s men thought they had an unlikely lifeline when referee Marco Di Bello pointed to the spot for an alleged handball from Arthur Cabral, but a viewing of the VAR monitor confirmed the Brazilian used his head not hand to clear the ball to safety.
Luka Jović rubbed salt into Milan’s gaping wounds with a fine header from Dodô’s cross to double Fiorentina’s lead, before Hernández smashed home a late consolation to halve the deficit. Therer wasn't enough time for a complete comeback, so it was a dismal evening for the Rossoneri, whose run of three consecutive victories without conceding came to an end. Meanwhile, Pioli’s side missed out on a chance to move up to second in the battle to be ‘best of the rest’ in SA, and sit fourth, while Fiorentina remained 12th.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Dodô (Fiorentina)
