Four Fiorentina Scorers, Two Old Concessions

Four names changed the relief

Fiorentina have already won 4-2 this season with Franco Mastantuono taking three of the goals. Monday's 4-2 at Sassuolo carried a healthier list: Mateo Pellegrino, Alieu Njie, Mastantuono and Víctor Valdepeñas. Four goals, four finishers, and no request for one young attacker to turn the match into a personal rescue service.

That distribution is the useful part of Fiorentina's second league win. Paolo Vanoli's team fell behind, led, conceded an equalizer and still found two more scorers. The response travelled through different players and different starting points. It also arrived in a match where Sassuolo scored twice, so nobody should hang the word control above the result and hope it stays there.

The argument before Juventus is therefore deliberately split. Preserve the shared finishing work. Reject the idea that four goals have paid off the defensive bill. Fiorentina finally made responsibility wider at one end while leaving the old invoice open at the other.

One attack, four finishers

Armand Laurienté put Sassuolo ahead after 25 minutes. Fiorentina did not answer with a speculative queue outside the penalty area. In first-half stoppage time, Njie found Pellegrino inside the box; the forward shifted past his marker and finished low. Five minutes after the restart, Marco Brescianini released Njie, whose shot from outside the area completed the turnaround.

Njie first supplied the last pass and then took the next finish. That matters because it changes the burden around Mastantuono. The Argentine can still receive in the spaces where his left foot alters a match, but the possession does not become useless when the defence leans toward him. Pellegrino can complete a box action. Njie can connect one and finish another.

Fiorentina supporters have seen enough talented attacks reduced to a waiting room for the most gifted player. Sassuolo got a version with more doors. It was less glamorous than another hat trick and far more useful as an attacking plan.

Laurienté's second goal made it 2-2 after 65 minutes. Vanoli then introduced Wilfried Gnonto, Christ Inao Oulaï, Beto and Pote. Within two minutes, Pote laid the ball back to Mastantuono, who scored from the edge of the area. Valdepeñas added the fourth in stoppage time after Sassuolo had stretched itself chasing another equalizer.

The substitution sequence did not replace the original route with four fresh names and a prayer. Pote entered the same attacking conversation, giving Mastantuono a short connection before the shot. Valdepeñas then arrived from defence to finish a later transition. Fiorentina's bench expanded the number of players who could complete an attack instead of merely increasing the number of attackers on the field.

That is a distinction worth carrying. Substitutions are not tactical because the electronic board glows. They become tactical when the next player understands the job that is open. Pote found the supporting touch. Valdepeñas recognized the unguarded final lane.

Two concessions keep the verdict small

The obvious objection is not subtle. Sassuolo had conceded six at home to Lazio in their previous league match and arrived with three straight defeats. Fiorentina should create chances against that defence. Laurienté still scored twice: first on a counterattack after Sebastiano Esposito released him, then from a tight angle after Nemanja Matić's cross.

Those goals prevent the result from becoming proof that Vanoli has balanced the side. The first punished the space behind an attack. The second came after Fiorentina had taken the lead and still could not close the route to Laurienté. A team sitting near the bottom cannot keep treating two concessions as the admission price for every attacking idea.

It is possible to celebrate four different scorers and remain irritated by the same two defensive questions. That is not pessimism; it is how a club avoids turning relief into another false reset. Fiorentina climbed to eight points. The distance from danger will be built by repeatable possessions and cheaper defensive mistakes, not the emotional weight of one away night.

The next verdict begins behind the attack

Fiorentina host Juventus on Sunday. The next test should not demand another four-goal scorecard. It should ask whether the work remains shared when the opponent closes the first route and whether the defensive shape survives after the ball is lost.

The useful sequence starts when Juventus shade an extra defender toward Mastantuono. Njie still has to become passer or finisher, Pellegrino still has to occupy the box without waiting for a perfect cross, and Pote or another substitute has to join the relationship instead of starting a new attack from scratch. The other half begins at the turnover, with somebody delaying the counter before it reaches open grass.

Sassuolo gave Fiorentina four different names to put beside the goals. Those names belong to one functioning attack only if the team can support them without charging David de Gea two concessions for the privilege.