Vincenzo Italiano explains Fiorentina were ‘aggressive, brave and lucky too’ to beat Atalanta 3-2 in stoppages when down to 10 men, so could now face Dusan Vlahovic’s Juventus in the Coppa Italia semi-final.
The Viola had taken an early lead with a Krzysztof Piatek penalty, were turned around by fantastic Davide Zappacosta and Jeremie Boga goals, but Piatek on the rebound from another spot-kick got it to 2-2.
Coppa Italia | Atalanta 2-3 Fiorentina: Dramatic last-gasp win for 10 men
With Lucas Martinez-Quarta sent off for a second bookable offence and therefore his team down to 10 men, Nikola Milenkovic snatched a last-gasp winner from the edge of the box.
“It was a game where I think before their equaliser, we were controlling the situation and had chances to go 2-0 up, but they equalised at the first opportunity,” Italiano told Sport Mediaset.
“At the end, I called everyone forward on the free kick, because there was genuine fear of playing extra time down to 10 men. We were aggressive, brave and lucky too to believe right to the very end.”
Now Fiorentina will face either Juventus – with their former striker Dusan Vlahovic – or Sassuolo in the semi-final over two legs.
“We will wait to find out who our opponents are. Now we will enjoy this victory, because winning in Bergamo is not easy for anyone, it’s positively extraordinary to do it down to 10 men.”
It was a much-needed morale-booster after their 3-0 Serie A home defeat to Lazio at the weekend.
“These ups and downs are something we are trying to eliminate, and we are continuing to improve. I am happy with the attitude shown by the lads, we had to react to the Lazio defeat and that’s what we did.”
NIKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/qOqJQ5cPmb
— ACF Fiorentina (@acffiorentina) February 10, 2022