A last-gasp goal, eighth place secured and beyond the verdict of the Conference final on Wednesday in Dublin, the certainty of playing in Europe again next year. Fiorentina passes 2-3 at Cagliari and gives themselves a gift on the 38th and final day of Serie A (even if the Viola still have the game against Atalanta to recover): a penalty kick converted by Arthur is decisive 112′. Minutes of emotion before kick-off, with the entire Unipol Domus paying homage to coach Claudio Ranieri, in his last appearance on the rossoblu bench.
The Viola team tries to start off strong straight away, but the home team creates the first scoring opportunity in the 17th minute with a shot from Lapadula following a shot from Viola, which ends up over the crossbar. Three minutes later Scuffet makes a great save on Belotti, defending the 0-0. Around the half hour Cagliari had a triple chance to take the lead, but Terracciano was phenomenal in saying no to Luvumbo and twice to Deiola. In the 39th minute, Fiorentina, once the moment of anxiety had been overcome, moved forward thanks to Giacomo Bonaventura who, after receiving the ball from Castrovilli, entered the area and slipped the ball past Scuffet.
In full injury time the rossoblu team grabs the equalizer with Lapadula, but the referee cancels it for offside. We therefore go to rest with a score of 0-1.
In the second half, Italiano decides to manage his energy in view of the Conference League final and brings in fresh forces. The home team, for its part, came close to equalizing in the 58th minute with a header following Deiola’s corner, which went just wide. The midfielder is always the most dangerous among the Sardinians and in the 64th minute he capitalized on a perfect cross from Prati, anticipating Ranieri and making it 1-1. At this point the pace of the match slows down and the game becomes very fragmented following the round of substitutions made by the two coaches. Five minutes from the 90th minute, Ranieri’s boys completed the comeback with the newly substitute Kingston Mutandwa, author of a great right-footed shot. Three minutes later, however, Nico Gonzalez took advantage of Biraghi’s cross and set the score at 2-2. In the 103rd minute Arthur converted a penalty and gave the Viola victory. By virtue of this result, Fiorentina secures eighth place with 57 points and is certain of a place in Europe, while Cagliari, safe from last week, closes on 36.
“I want to thank you, what we managed to do we all did together. I remember when I arrived a year ago, I asked you for help. Only with you could we do what we did, both last year and this You always have to stay close to these guys, as long as they give you everything on the pitch. They may make mistakes, but with you behind them they will always give their all that you face to be close to us on the road. This is the best boost a player can have, knowing that there is a people behind it.” Thus the Cagliari coach, Claudio Ranieri, addressed the fans on the final catwalk in honor of him.