Knowing they couldn’t afford any more dropped points as they looked to achieve their domestic objective, Jose Mourinho’s side needed no invitation to race into an early lead, with El Shaarawy netting the opener for the visitors. Ghosting into the penalty area unmarked, the forward was in the right place at the right time to finish off a nodded ball across the box from Ola Solbakken.
El Shaarawy would come close to doubling his tally for the afternoon later on in the half, but the Italy international’s long-range effort wasn’t powerful enough to beat Michele Cerofolini between the Fiorentina sticks.
In full control at the break, Roma spent the entire second half taking the sting out of the game as they attempted to preserve their 1-0 lead, a tactic straight out of the Mourinho textbook.
However, for much of the period, the visitors weren’t made to work hard to defend their slender advantage with Fiorentina, no doubt already looking ahead to the Conference League final against West Ham United, content with surrendering space to the capital club.
Nevertheless, just as the game appeared to be edging towards a Roma victory, Fiorentina were able to muster enough energy to score twice in quick succession and flip the game on its head. In fact, only two minutes and 28 seconds separated the goals, with Jovic sweeping home a loose ball in the penalty area to equalise before Ikone tapped home into an empty net from two yards out.
While the result doesn’t really affect Fiorentina’s league campaign - they can finish no higher than eighth even with these three points - this was a memorable turnaround and gives them plenty of confidence heading into their continental final.
Roma, though, will no doubt be hurt, and must now try and recover as quickly as possible ahead of Wednesday’s Europa League final against Sevilla - winning that is now the only way they can qualify for the Champions League.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Luka Jovic (Fiorentina)
