Fiorentina and Atalanta played out an entertaining 2-2 draw as the Serie A midweek round concluded, although the result did little to improve either side’s recent form.
Earlier, newly promoted Frosinone hosted Lecce from 17.30 GMT (18.30 CET). A victory would have lifted Frosinone into sixth place, one point behind fifth-placed Milan. At 19.45 GMT (20.45 CET), Fiorentina welcomed Maurizio Sarri’s stuttering Atalanta in a match between two sides searching for momentum.
The game in Florence became increasingly open after the interval, with both teams creating chances and defences struggling to contain the attacking movement.
Fiorentina made a change as Njie was replaced by Gnonto, who was later booked for a late tackle. Mastantuono also threatened after seizing on a poor clearance, nutmegging Pasalic before Obric intervened and won a foul.
Atalanta responded on the counter-attack through Krstovic, who took on Dragusin before finding De Ketelaere. Viery made an important interception to prevent the move developing further.
De Ketelaere remained a constant threat, first creating an opening for Zalewski. The ball was pulled back from the right and Zalewski cut inside before shooting through a crowded penalty area from 15 yards. De Gea appeared not to see the effort until the final moment as it found the bottom corner.
De Ketelaere then sent Krstovic through with a dummy, but the forward bent his right-footed effort wide of the far post. Later, De Ketelaere twisted past defenders in the box and went down, but the referee did not award a penalty.
Fiorentina sought an equaliser through Gnonto, whose effort was blocked inside the area. Pellegrino appealed for handball after the ball struck Obric, but it had first hit Pellegrino from close range and Obric’s arm was hanging naturally.
Joao Mario also went close, forcing Carnesecchi to save a low shot from distance. On another occasion, his effort from outside the box took a substantial deflection off Obric’s calf, sending the ball in the opposite direction to which Carnesecchi had been moving.
Carnesecchi then denied Mastantuono after his shot had been deflected for a corner, while Bernasconi produced an important block to stop another effort from the Fiorentina player. Alex Jimenez curled a subsequent attempt wide.
Atalanta made a double substitution, with Pasalic and Rowe coming on for Gaetano and Elmas. Kamaldeen Sulemana also returned to action, replacing Zalewski.
In the closing stages, De Gea prevented De Ketelaere from completing a solo run when he acrobatically pushed away the Belgian’s shot. Gnonto fired over the bar, while Carnesecchi closed his legs to keep out a Brescianini strike from six yards after a corner.
Fiorentina introduced Beto and Pedro Goncalves for Mastantuono and Pellegrino. Pedro Goncalves’ corner was beaten away by Carnesecchi, before Oulai returned the ball into the area and Beto headed wide.
Obric was booked for a foul on Mastantuono, and the match entered at least three minutes of added time.
