Headline: Fiorentina Secures Long-Awaited Victory Over Sassuolo as Vanoli Hails Team Growth
Fiorentina manager Paolo Vanoli expressed satisfaction following his team’s long-awaited 4-2 victory against Sassuolo at the Mapei Stadium. Praising the impact of his substitutes, Vanoli highlighted the significance of the win in the ongoing relegation battle. This marks Fiorentina’s first win in over a month and a half.
During an interview with DAZN, Vanoli reflected on the match where Sassuolo’s Armand Laurienté scored twice. Mateo Pellegrino and Alieu Njie netted goals for Fiorentina, while substitute Pedro Gonçalves assisted Franco Mastantuono’s winner with a clever no-look pass, before Valdepeñas secured the win late in the game.
“I’m happy for these lads, because we’d been playing very good football for some time, and more than once we deserved to get close to the three points,” Vanoli stated. “Sometimes because of our own mistakes, sometimes because we were still maturing, we didn’t get them. But I always told the players this was the right path.”
The victory elevates Fiorentina to eight points, positioning them level with Sassuolo and three points clear of the relegation zone, alleviating some pressure from Vanoli amid a challenging period.
“The mistakes have helped us grow, because we’re a young team. We threw away the result against Inter in Milan in five minutes, against Como the key moments went against us, and against Atalanta we didn’t know how to manage the difficult moments,” he explained. “Now this win helps give us more self-esteem and awareness.”
Vanoli also addressed the challenges still faced by the team, stating, “In a league like Italy’s, we can’t keep conceding two goals, so we have to look at that too.”
Furthermore, he emphasized the importance of understanding the significance of wearing the Fiorentina shirt. “We are Fiorentina. When we wear this shirt, we carry something important forward, and I have the great responsibility of making them understand that, because I think these lads have the talent to do something important for Fiorentina in the future,” he remarked. “I’ve always said we need to put aside the ‘I’ and use the ‘we’.”
The coach concluded by commending the professionalism of Pedro Gonçalves, equating it to that of João Mário, underscoring the values he aims to instill within the squad.
