Fiorentina and Atalanta share chaos but neither finds the form they need
A four-goal draw at the Artemio Franchi offered moments of real quality from Charles De Ketelaere and Nicola Zalewski, but it changes little for two clubs buried in injury problems and poor runs.
Fiorentina and Atalanta drew 2-2 at the Artemio Franchi on matchday nine, a result that, for all its entertainment, does little to address the deeper problems at either club, Football Italia reported.
Both sides arrived in crisis. Fiorentina had enjoyed a brief lift under returning head coach Paolo Vanoli before three straight defeats, with Marin Pongracic joining Luca Ranieri, Arthur Atta and Fabiano Parisi on the treatment table. Atalanta's list was longer still: Gianluca Scamacca, Raoul Bellanova, Giacomo Raspadori, Franck Kessie, Sead Kolasinac, Isak Hien and Odilon Kossounou were all unavailable, according to Football Italia.
A crisis that worsened within two minutes
The scale of Atalanta's squad problems was underlined almost immediately. Thomas Kristensen went down clutching his hamstring just 120 seconds in and had to be replaced, forcing Giorgio Scalvini into an earlier return from his own injury than planned. Scalvini's presence on the bench beforehand had been the one piece of good news for Maurizio Sarri's side, and it was used up before the game had properly begun.
That sequence matters beyond the immediate reshuffle. A team already missing seven senior players losing another inside the opening minutes has no margin for further disruption, and it explains why Atalanta's defensive shape looked porous in transition for long stretches, even as they created and scored twice.
Transitions decided both halves of the contest
Fiorentina started the brighter of the two sides, with Mateo Pellegrino and Alex Jimenez both off target early and Franco Mastantuono testing Marco Carnesecchi at his near post. Atalanta's first real opening came through Charles De Ketelaere rolling the ball across for Eljif Elmas, whose shot was charged down, before Carnesecchi needed a sharp save of his own to deny a double-deflected effort from Cher Ndour.
The opening goal, though, came from exactly the kind of moment that exposes a side under pressure. Gianluca Gaetano won the ball off Niccolò Fagioli in midfield to spark the counter-attack, Nicola Zalewski pulled it across from the left, and De Ketelaere swept home from 12 yards in the 41st minute. It was a goal built on a single turnover rather than sustained pressure, the kind of transition chance Atalanta's front players are built to exploit.
David de Gea then produced what Football Italia described as an astonishing save to claw a Nikola Krstovic header off the line, keeping Fiorentina within a single goal at the interval. The game's refereeing situation changed too, with Federico La Penna unable to continue after the break and fourth official Livio Marinelli taking over.
Set-piece quality and a deflection turned the game
Fiorentina's response after half-time showed where their own route back into games currently lies. Jimenez's cross to the back post found Alieu Njie for a diving header to level in the 53rd minute, a straightforward delivery finished well under pressure. Eight minutes later Joao Mario put the hosts ahead with a shot from outside the box that took a heavy deflection off Relja Obric, wrongfooting Carnesecchi completely — a goal owing as much to fortune as craft, but one that counts the same in the table.
Atalanta's equaliser again came through their most dangerous combination. De Ketelaere, after seeing a penalty appeal waved away following contact from Cher Ndour, turned provider for Zalewski, who drilled the ball through a crowd of bodies to beat De Gea at the near bottom corner in the 74th minute. De Ketelaere was involved in both Atalanta goals, either scoring or creating, and continued to threaten late on, forcing another save from De Gea before Beto headed wide in stoppage time for the visitors.
What the draw actually changes
In pure tactical terms, little separated the sides: 50% possession apiece, though Fiorentina had the greater share of chances with 26 shots to Atalanta's ten, only two more on target. The underlying picture is of two teams capable of scoring but equally capable of conceding through moments of individual quality rather than sustained control.
Context from Football Italia frames why neither side can take comfort from the point. Atalanta have won just one of their last six Serie A matches and had only just come through a 4-4 thriller against Frosinone, while Fiorentina's own run had been three consecutive losses before this draw halted the slide without reversing it.
Neither club solved its underlying issue at the Franchi. Atalanta's injury list grew rather than shrank, with Scalvini pressed into service earlier than intended, while Fiorentina still lack the squad depth that losing Pongracic, Ranieri, Atta and Parisi has exposed. The draw buys neither side time; the next fixtures will show whether either can turn moments of quality, like De Ketelaere's double involvement or Joao Mario's deflected strike, into the consistency both are currently missing.