With Sampdoria cut adrift at the foot of Serie A and all but certain to play second-tier football next season, the odds were stacked firmly against them, as they travelled to a Fiorentina side who now have a Coppa Italia final to look forward to.
But the basement dwellers surprisingly started the brighter, and they ought to have gone ahead when Mehdi Leris wriggled free in the area - but his subsequent effort that wasn’t far off leaving the stadium, practically summarising Sampdoria’s season of woe in the space of mere moments.
Meaningful goalmouth action was certainly at a premium in the opening 45 minutes, and when Gaetano Castrovilli spurned an opportunity five minutes before the break he probably thought he’d missed his chance to nose Fiorentina ahead at the break.
However, he would get one more opportunity, and this time made no mistake, as he thumped home his first league goal since December 2021.
Goals change games so the old footballing cliché goes, and Castrovilli’s opener certainly turned the tide of this game in Fiorentina’s favour.
La Viola were clearly in no mood to shut up shop, and after continuing their dominant ways after half-time, they put Sampdoria to the sword via Dodo. Sporting eye-catching purple hair to match his jersey, the Brazilian saw a shot from 12 yards deflect into the net.
And just four minutes after seeing his strike survive a VAR review, it was Alfred Duncan’s turn to benefit from a deflection, with his shot from the edge of the box making it 3-0 and putting a routine win over the league’s worst side beyond all doubt.
There was no let up despite the certainty of La Viola’s victory, and Christian Kouame struck a fourth to rub salt into Samp's wounds.
Unfortunately for the visitors, Fiorentina didn’t heed their cry for mercy and rounded off a five-star performance in the closing stages through Aleksa Terzic, who netted his first senior goal in the process.
Having edged Sampdoria even closer to the gallows, Fiorentina have kept their far-fetched hopes of a top-seven finish alive for another week.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina)
