Vincenzo Italiano admits Fiorentina did the bare minimum to take the points against Udinese, but are genuinely worried about Dodo’s injury. ‘I hope with all my heart it is not serious.’
The Viola were coming off a draining 2-2 draw away to Genk in the Europa Conference League and missing injured Nico Gonzalez, but showed a remarkably clinical performance to snatch the points in Udine.
“The important thing at the start of the season is to get points under your belt. It was not a thrilling performance, but we saw that the lads know how to suffer under pressure and bring home the result,” Italiano told DAZN.
They scored with their only two shots on target from Lucas Martinez-Quarta and Giacomo Bonaventura, while goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano came to the rescue with several big saves.
When he failed to get there, Udinese’s poor finishing let them off, such as Lorenzo Lucca hitting the side-netting of an open goal.
“Martinez-Quarta had already scored against Atalanta, so we gave him the freedom to roam around, as he is good at finding those spaces for himself. Bonaventura also deserves credit for the wonderful pass over the top.
“In the second half, we moved to a three-man defence because Lucca let us off the hook and Terracciano kept us in it too. Michael Kayode was exhausted and so I sacrificed Jonathan Ikone to give support to that flank.”
Maxime Lopez was given his first start in the Viola jersey after a deadline day transfer from Sassuolo.
“It is not easy to settle in to a new team, but he has clear football intelligence and had a positive performance.”
There was also some very bad news for Fiorentina, because in the opening minutes Dodo collapsed near the corner flag and immediately asked to be substituted.
He was then carried off practically in tears, unable to even put his right foot down.
“Dodo felt his knee turn and we will wait for the test results, but I can only hope with all my heart that it is nothing serious. This type of injury is one all players want to avoid,” added a visibly concerned Italiano.