COACH ITALIANO SPEAKS AFTER ATALANTA WIN
A battling team display combined with Krzysztof Piatek's close-range finish early in the second half earned Fiorentina a 1-0 victory over Atalanta on Sunday.
This is what Vincenzo Italiano had to say after the game:
"Atalanta have demonstrated in recent years that they’re an excellent side. We’re pleased to have gone toe to toe with them and actually managing to win bring us great joy.
“It was an evenly-balanced match – the kind that was going to be decided by a single goal. We did well to take the chance we had, thanks to [Nicolas] Gonzalez and Piatek.
“We also gave up very few opportunities. I’m very happy. It keeps our run of form going, in terms of performances and results. I hope our league standing can give us even more confidence.
“Games like this are wonderful from a tactical perspective. The fact Atalanta go man to man makes things dangerous, because if you lose a single duel, they can get a sight of goal.
“One thing I was particularly pleased with was that our goalkeeper had more touches than anyone else, because in this situation he’s your extra man. He kept on receiving the ball and distributed well. It’d also been a while since he’d played – so I’m happy for him.
“I’m very happy about this victory. It demonstrates that our work is paying off. It’s great to reach 42 points – it means we’re far away from that survival battle. With that weight off our shoulders, we want to try and push on.
“I tell the boys I want them to stay in that part of the league table, that they should be proud of where we are, and that we also need to improve and develop. It’s understandable to get carried away when you look at our league position, but because we still make mistakes during games, which sometimes put us under pressure, I prefer to stay calm and urge caution.
“The president, as always, came by after the match to say thank you to the team for their hard work. He is very happy that the team matched Atalanta for the duration of the match. Making him happy is also something we strive to do, and right now we’re managing that.
“We lost a finisher [during the January transfer window] and another one arrived. Piatek is doing his job right now. He had an advantage over [Jonathan] Ikoné and [Arthur] Cabral in that he already spoke the language. He’s slotted perfectly into our system – he needs to improve, of course, but I’m very happy. It shows we have a good, solid identity in place here. We're also pleased because we did not want our plans to be cut short in January – this needs to run until the end of May, and we’ll get there fighting game by game.”
(Photo LaPresse)
