Malinowski's assist didn't help Atalanta - the Ukrainian's team was eliminated from the Italian Cup by Fiorentina

In the match of the 1/8 finals of the Italian Cup between Fiorentina and Atalanta, the Violets celebrated a dramatic victory (2:1).

After a good match against Inter, Ruslan Malinowski was entrusted with a place in the main lineup. Gian Piero Gasperini also made changes in the attack, replacing Zapata with Muriel, and he also brought on center back Caldar - it was his first match after returning to Atalanta. Ilicic and Gomez also remained in reserve.

The Bergamaschi failed to start the match. Fiorentina immediately covered the opponent with high pressure from the opening whistle, as a result of which the visitors' defenders made a number of gross mistakes. In the 11th minute, such football resulted in a logical goal for the Violets: Coutrone made a great opening on the penalty line and played into the wall with Dalber, who went down the left flank and rolled out a pass to the backs of the defenders - it was closed by Patrick! 1:0.

Before the referees could check the goal for offside and allow the game to continue, the Atalanta defense brought a second chance: Masiello made a gross mistake, goalkeeper Gollini made an unsuccessful move - as a result, two shots from an acute angle hit the empty Goddess goal. The first was blocked by Caldara right on the line, and Gollini managed to parry the second! Gasperini's wards did not retaliate. The opening 20 minutes of the first half passed in this spirit.

In the second half, Atalanta became more aggressive. In the 22nd minute, Malinowski almost earned a penalty kick when he broke into the center of the penalty area and fell in a fight with Ceccherini. Referee Gianluca Magnanello decided to ignore this episode, while replays showed that the reason for the 11-meter penalty could only be formal. After that, the teams exchanged a series of good attacks without a sharp ending, but in general, the Bergamo had the initiative. In the 30th minute, they almost got back into the game: the guests earned a corner kick, but the second-paced attack ended with Malinowski's cross to the goalkeeper's line - Pashalic closed it with a header into the crossbar!

Fiorentina responded in the 32nd minute with Cutrone's breakthrough to the right edge of the penalty area with an inaccurate shot - Atalanta immediately attacked with a long shot by Malinowski over the crossbar. In the 34th minute, the Violets missed a great chance to double their lead: Benassi went one-on-one with Gollini and beat him, but instead of shooting at the empty net, he rolled out a cross pass to Vlahovic, who could not score properly. After that, the match moved into a positional struggle, in which Malinowski managed to put Pezzella on a yellow card and earn a free kick 20 meters from the goal. Ruslan took the free kick himself, hitting the wall and then playing for the finish - and again his shot was blocked.

For the second half, Gian Piero Gasperini brought on Ilicic and then added Gomez to the attack. The Bergamaschi immediately seized the initiative, earning a promising free kick in the 47th minute - Pashalic fired above the goal. Fiorentina, however, did not forget to counterattack, organizing a similar standard with a similar performance from Vlahovic in the 51st and blocking a one-on-one in the 55th, but in general it was noticeable that Atalanta had added to the lead. Very soon, the guests began to create super chances.

Thus, in the 59th minute, Pashalic went one-on-one with Terraciano after a slashing pass from Muriel, but the goalkeeper knocked the ball out from under his feet. The goal remained empty, and Malinowski, taking the rebound, tried to hit it from the center - too high! In the 64th minute, Ilicic launched Muriel to the right edge of the penalty area, and he rolled out a pass to the far post - Gossens closed with a powerful shot into an empty corner, but hit the crossbar. In the 65th minute, Gomez broke into the left side and fired - the pass was knocked out right under Gossens' finish, but Dalber managed to take the ball out at the last moment!

Finally, in the 67th minute, Atalanta scored through the efforts of Malinowski and Ilicic: Ruslan opened up on the left edge of the penalty area, received a pass and immediately shot to the goal line, and Yosyp confidently closed in a touch - 1: 1!

In the 70th minute, the Violets were left in the minority due to a simulation by Pezzella, who received a second yellow card, and in the 75th minute the hosts were unlucky for the third time - Benassi blocked the exit one-on-one with Gollini. It seemed that Fortune had left Fiorentina.

However, Atalanta suddenly stopped after their goal, organizing only a few standards without sharpness and only firing once on goal - it was Malinowski who shot into the sky from a distance in the 83rd minute. The hosts did not respond until the 85th minute, when they unexpectedly managed to shock the Bergamaschi: Lirola received a magnificent diagonal pass from Pulgar to the right flank, broke into the edge of the penalty area and scored powerfully into the far bottom corner - 2: 1!

The “Goddess” did not seem to recover from this blow. Gian Piero Gasperini's men managed to organize a number of attacks in the last minutes of regular time, but none of them looked dangerous. The Bergamaschi got a real chance to save themselves in the 90+3rd minute, when Malinowski fired from 25 meters into the right corner - the ball passed millimeters from the post! In the end, the final whistle recorded the victory of Fiorentina, which managed to reach the 1/4 finals of the Italian Cup!

Italian Cup 1/8 finals

Fiorentina - Atalanta 2: 1

Goals: 11' Patrick Cutrone, 70' German Pezzella, 84' Paul Lirola - Josip Ilicic 67'

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