Fiorentina, all against all: Gudmundsson retorts to Vanoli on penalty and sends barbs to teammates

Climate of great tension at Fiorentina after Saturday’s defeat against Sassuolo, which relegated the Viola to the last place in the standings alone with 6 points. The lily-colored players have yet to win since the start of the season, the arrival of Paolo Vanoli does not seem to have improved the situation, and now even the locker room is beginning to creak: the‘penalty episode during the match with the neroverdi was very significant and immediate clarification will be needed to prevent the situation from degenerating. After the quarrel between Kean, Mandragora and Ranieri, Vanoli had spoken in a press conference explaining that the first penalty taker was someone else: “Gudmundsson” should have taken the penalty.

Martino Davidi

“It’s him first in the hierarchies but but he wouldn&#8217t kick it. The second penalty taker was Mandragora and Kean being a striker who is not scoring in this period, he wanted to pull it him”. The words of the purple coach raised a hornet’s nest on social media, so much so that Gudmundsson himself had to intervene: on Instagram the Icelander gave a different version of what happened in Reggio Emilia. “I have never and will never refuse to shoot a penalty, I have always shot penalties for the club without problems. On Saturday, another player caught the ball and wanted to take the penalty and I am not that kind of person who argues with my teammate in front of a full stadium”.

The Icelander&#8217s message is clear, not only to his coach but also toward the teammates involved in the incident. The incident occurred in the first minutes of the match played at Mapei Stadium. On 9′ the lily-colored team earned a penalty kick thanks to Muric’s foul on Parisi, but the purple players argued when the shot from the penalty spot was taken. Mandragora approached to take the penalty but Kean intervened, intending to kick him. The blue striker stood in front of the ball and exchanged a few words with Mandragora. The standoff lasted until Fiorentina captain Ranieri intervened and pushed Kean away, allowing Mandragora to take and score the penalty kick that gave the Viola the lead.

After Fiorentina’s goal, Kean, who was very displeased, did not join the celebration with the rest of the team, and returned to his own half of the field with his head down. However, the Tuscans were remounted and lost 3-1, deepening a crisis that seems to have no end.