Atalanta 0 : 1 Fiorentina - Kurtic fires Fiorentina to victory

Posted Monday, September 22, 2014 by PA

Fiorentina picked up a much-needed first Serie A victory of the season after substitute Jasmin Kurtic's goal was enough for them to claim a 1-0 victory over Atalanta.

With only one point from their opening two matches, La Viola gained a confidence boost with a 3-0 Europa League thumping of Guingamp on Thursday and followed that up with an accomplished display at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia.

It took just two minutes for the visitors to make their mark when Josip Ilicic's right foot shot from the edge of Nerazzurri box was well saved by Atalanta stopper Marco Sportiello.

Both Mario Gomez and then Matias Fernandez went close to doubling La Viola's advantage before Atalanta finally woke up after 17 minutes.

Marco D'Alessandro's perfectly weighted pass found Richmond Boakye, whose long range effort was tipped to safety by Neto.

Fernandez sent another long-range effort just wide of the post towards the end of the half and Alberto Aquilani should have done better five minutes before the break but, when well-placed, he headed Ilicic's corner over the bar.

Fiorentina's dominance continued at the start of the second half, when Juan Cuadrado's wicket shot was well kept out by Sportiello, but there was little he could do shortly before the hour mark to keep his side level.

Kurtic, who had only just replaced Milan Badelj, fired an effort between two defenders and into the far corner of the net to give his side a deserved lead.

Davide Zappacosta and Yohan Benalouane forced saves from visiting stopper Neto but it was not long before Sportiello was called into action again, keeping out Juan Manuel Vargas' long distance effort.

Atalanta finally started threatening the opposition goal in the final 10 minutes with Alejandro Gomez and then Angelo Carmona testing Neto, but their best chance of the game fell in the dying seconds of the match.

A superb pass from Salvatore Molina found Boakye, but this effort was close range was cleared off the line by Gonzalo Rodriguez.