Meet Mastantuono: Fiorentina Crushes Venezia with a Hat Trick by the Argentine

Mastantuono breaks his scoring drought and Fiorentina soars: the Viola, led by new coach Vanoli—who took over from Grosso earlier this week—defeated Venezia 4-2 at Penzo Stadium in a Serie A match on Matchday 4. Thanks to a hat trick by the Argentine on loan from Real Madrid and a goal by Pellegrino, the Gigliati earned their first three points in the standings, while Stroppa’s team remains winless.

An entertaining first half: new coach Vanoli started Beto from the 1st minute, with Njie and Mastantuono flanking him. The Lagunari got off to a better start, with Yeboah having a chance early on; the Viola responded through Mastantuono, whose shot was blocked by Moreno. In the 22nd minute, the home team took the lead: Busio found Adams, who scored with a diagonal shot to make it 1-0.

Fiorentina’s response was immediate, and Mastantuono broke his scoring drought by netting his first two Serie A goals in two minutes: in the 28th minute, he receives the ball on the right, cuts inside, and fires a curling left-footed shot from outside the box that catches Venice goalkeeper Stankovic off guard at the near post. In the 30th minute, they doubled their lead: thanks to a mistake by Haps, Beto broke toward the Venezia goal and then laid the ball off to Mastantuono, who, with another clinical left-footed shot from the edge of the box, beat Stankovic, this time into the far corner.

In the second half, Venezia sought the equalizer, but Vanoli’s substitutions proved decisive: in the 66th minute, the newly substituted Pellegrino received a pass from Fagioli, dribbled past Moreno, and remained perfectly composed in front of Stankovic to make it 3-1, sealing the victory for the “Gigliati.”

But it wasn’t over yet: in the 84th minute, Mastantuono completed his hat trick. After a series of rebounds in Venezia’s penalty area, Ndour finds the Argentine, who—after his first shot was blocked by Stankovic—scores on the rebound to make it 4-1. In the 86th minute, Venezia immediately pulled one back to make it 2-4 with a goal by Hainaut off an assist from Haps, but they no longer had the strength to mount a comeback.