Following La Viola’s 2-1 victory of Spezia, Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Italiano provided his thoughts about the match in an interview.
It was Serbian center-back Nikola Milenkovic who opened the score-line as he headed home a well-delivered corner from full-back Cristian Biraghi.
Despite M’bala Nzola’s equalizer to make it level, the super-sub Arthur Cabral sealed all three points within the 89th minute as he latched onto a rebound and cushioned the ball past the shot-stopper Bartlomiej Dragowski.
In an interview with Dazn, relayed by Milan-based journal La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italiano spoke about his side’s performance and the significance of the win:
We said it: we left too many points on the road. Today we got some of them back. Spezia made us suffer in the first half, with these long balls overtaking the defense. In the second half we grew and took control of the race. I think our victory is deserved, we finally won away from the Franchi.
Today in the technical meeting I quoted some words from Barella: “With pride and sacrifice we get out of difficult moments”. I told the guys that it was time to look to the point, be more concrete and effective and add points to our ranking. It was right to start putting in some sacrifice, character and pride. Whoever entered has decided this match, with the 5 substitutions whoever enters the final must understand that it can be decisive.”
