Fiorentina women took on Sassuolo women in the opening group stage match of the Coppa Italia Serie A on Saturday, a fixture that ended 2-1 in favour of the visitors. The result came after a match where Fiorentina led for most of the game, only to see their advantage stripped away in the closing stages. The hosts had started brightly, but Sassuolo showed the kind of resilience that often separates teams in knockout competitions.
K. Skupien gave Fiorentina the lead from the penalty spot in the twenty-first minute, a moment that seemed to set the tone for the afternoon. The visitors could have responded earlier, but the breakthrough came much later in the game. And here's the thing — it wasn't about dominating possession or creating chances, it was about taking what came your way when it arrived.
Sassuolo finally found their equaliser in the seventy-seventh minute through S. Bredgaard, a goal that shifted everything. The momentum turned quickly, and by then Fiorentina were chasing the game rather than controlling it. P. Fadda added the winner in the eighty-ninth minute, giving Sassuolo a dramatic victory after they had been on the back foot for seventy-seven minutes.
The match saw five substitutions and two yellow cards, with L. Palakovics and H. Fercocq both booked. To be fair, neither side could be described as having a dominant spell — it was a game decided by moments rather than sustained pressure. Fiorentina made changes to try and hold on, but Sassuolo's adjustments in the second half told.
This was a match where Fiorentina had the game won inside twenty minutes, yet things came to a head in the final quarter of an hour. The result means Sassuolo move ahead in the group standings, while Fiorentina will need to regroup quickly. It was a reminder that football is not always decided by who plays better for ninety minutes, but by who takes their chances when it matters.
