Chapter 42: Chapter 41: Fiorentina U23 vs Atalanta U23 [VII]
At 64 minutes, Atalanta’s equalizer arrived through a moment of collective effort and a slice of fortune.
The sequence began deep in Atalanta’s half as Leone collected a back pass from Rinaldi and immediately looked upfield, and his quick distribution found Riccardo in the center circle where the captain turned under pressure before playing it square to Demien.
Demien’s first touch was clean as he let the ball roll across his body while Fabbri pressed from behind, and instead of forcing a forward pass, he played it back to Moretti who had advanced from defense to provide an outlet.
Moretti’s long pass found Luca wide on the left, and the wing-back controlled it before driving at Signorini with the pace that had troubled Fiorentina all match, and his cross bent toward the penalty spot with curl and accuracy.
Parisi attacked it but mistimed his jump, and the ball flew over his head toward the far post where Costa had made a late run, but Gabbrielli blocked his shot before it could threaten goal.
The ball bounced loose toward the edge of the box where Fiorentina’s clearance fell short, and suddenly Demien was there.
He had continued his run forward after the initial pass to Moretti, and his positioning was good as the ball dropped toward him twenty yards from goal, and David Drinkwater’s instincts told him to shoot rather than look for another pass.
Demien’s right foot connected as the ball dropped, and he struck it on the half-volley with his body leaning back slightly, but the contact wasn’t quite clean as his foot caught the bottom half of the ball rather than striking through the middle.
The shot flew toward goal with decent power but the trajectory was higher than he’d intended, and Battistini tracked it before diving to his right as the ball dipped late, and the goalkeeper’s fingertips reached it but not quite enough as the ball struck the underside of the crossbar before bouncing down into the goal.
Fiorentina 2-2 Atalanta (64’)
The stadium exploded with noise as Atalanta’s supporters erupted from their seats while even some Fiorentina fans offered respectful applause for the perseverance, and Demien sprinted toward the corner with both arms raised as relief and joy flooded through him.
His teammates caught him before he reached the flag as Riccardo arrived first and grabbed his head, and Luca jumped on his back while Costa and Parisi swarmed from the other side, and the celebration was genuine joy mixed with relief as the score leveled again.
Coach Rossi met Demien with a hard slap on the back as the midfielder jogged past the technical area, and the coach’s voice carried approval as he said, "That’s the answer I wanted! Keep it going!"
In the directors’ box, Gasperini was grinning now as he turned to his assistant with appreciation written across his face, and he said quietly, "Kept shooting under pressure, that’s what I want to see."
His assistant nodded while scribbling rapidly, and he added, "Two goals in one match against his former academy, that’s mental strength."
"Exactly what we need," Gasperini confirmed while his eyes tracked Demien returning to position.
The match opened up completely after the equalizer as both teams committed more players forward, and the tactical discipline from earlier dissolved into end-to-end football that had both sets of supporters on their feet.
At 70 minutes, Adriano reminded everyone why top clubs wanted him.
Fiorentina built from the back as Bellotti played short to Cataldi, who turned and immediately looked for his attacking midfielder, and the pass found Adriano twenty-five yards from goal with space to operate.
Demien closed in from his right while Martinez pressed from the left, but Adriano’s first touch rolled the ball forward and away from both challenges, and suddenly he was driving at Atalanta’s defense with purpose.
Ferrari stepped up to engage, but Adriano’s eyes had already spotted the run developing on his left where Vitale had peeled away from Moretti’s marking, and the space between Atalanta’s center-backs was narrow but just wide enough.
Adriano’s right foot swept across the ball and delivered a pass that threaded between Ferrari and Moretti with laser precision, and the weight was so perfect that Vitale didn’t need to adjust his stride as the ball arrived exactly in his path.
Leone rushed off his line, but Vitale’s first touch took him around the goalkeeper’s dive, and his second touch rolled the ball into the empty net before any defender could recover.
Fiorentina 3-2 Atalanta (70’)
Fiorentina’s bench erupted again as their coaches jumped and celebrated, and the home crowd’s chants grew louder while Vitale slid on his knees toward the corner with arms spread wide.
Atalanta’s response came just three minutes later.
At 73 minutes, Fiorentina’s attack broke down when Vitale’s shot was blocked by Rinaldi, and the ball bounced high toward midfield where Moretti headed it forward toward Demien, who had space to operate as Fiorentina’s players were still recovering their defensive positions.
Demien controlled the dropping ball on his thigh before it fell to his right foot, and he immediately looked up to assess his options as Cataldi closed in from his left while Fabbri tracked back from deeper.
Luca had already started his run down the left channel, and Demien’s right foot connected with a diagonal pass aimed toward the space behind Signorini, but the weight was slightly off as the ball rolled a bit too far ahead of Luca’s run.
Luca had to stretch his stride to reach it before it went out of play, and his first touch was heavier than ideal as the ball bounced ahead of him near the touchline, but his pace allowed him to recover it before Signorini could close the distance.
Now with the ball under control, Luca drove forward along the left side as Signorini tracked his movement, and instead of taking him on directly, Luca checked back slightly which made the defender hesitate before Luca’s left foot pushed the ball diagonally inward toward the top of the box.
Bellotti rushed across to cover as Luca cut inside with the ball at his feet, and the defender’s positioning forced Luca wider than he wanted, but space had opened at the edge of the penalty area as Fiorentina’s shape was stretched.
Luca shaped his body as if preparing to cross with his right foot, and Bellotti shifted his weight to block that angle, but instead Luca’s left foot came around the ball with the inside of his boot.