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In the first quarterfinals match of the Coppa Italia today, ACF Fiorentina thrashed AS Roma 7-1 to record one of La Viola's greatest victories in recent times.
The match started with Federico Chiesa scoring for La Viola in the seventh minute before doubling it in the 18th minute. Aleksandar Kolarov pulled one back for the Giallorossi but new signing Luis Muriel ensured that La Viola entered into the half time with a two-goal lead.
The opening 20 minutes of the second half were dominated by Roma with Fiorentina getting fewer touches on the ball, but after that, the floodgates opened. Roma then conceded four goals in the space of 25 minutes as Marco Benassi scored in the 66th minute before Federico Chiesa completed his hattrick in the 74th minute.
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Substitute Giovanni Simeone then came on to score the sixth and seventh goal for La Viola as Fiorentina cruised to an unexpected 7-1 victory against Roma as the Artemio Franchi Stadium.
To make matters worse for Roma, key forward Edin Dzeko was given a direct red in the 72nd minute to reduce the Giallorossi to 10 men.
Here are 3 talking points from this fixture.
Roma defence falters again
Before the start of today's match, Roma twice let slip a 2-0 lead with the first one ending with the Giallorossi winning 3-2 against Torino while the second ended with a 3-3 draw against Atalanta in the weekend.
The first goal conceded today was solely due to the Roma defence not picking up Chiesa's run while the second one can be accounted to Kolarov laziness in trying to stop the young Italian's run.
The third goal was a much more difficult one to defend but the fourth goal was a product of Roma's lack of concentration as Bryan Cristante instead of clearing the ball, put it up for grabs as Muriel played in Benassi to score.
The next one came after a mistake by the captain Kolarov, as Chiesa completed his hat-trick before Simeone came off the bench to score two in 11 minutes to condemn the Giallorossi to a 7-1 loss.
Federico Chiesa runs riot
The 21-year old forward had one of the best matches of his career so far as the young Italian scored his first ever hat-trick for Fiorentina.
Chiesa was a thorn in the Roma defence right from the start and it took the youngster just seven minutes to break the deadlock as he coolly slotted in the first goal of the match after he was left alone in the penalty box.
The second goal though was a much better sight as Chiesa perfectly timed his run to break the offside trap before delightfully chipping it over an onrushing Robin Olsen after Kevin Mirallas yet again proved the assist maker in the 18th minute.
The third one of the day was yet again another defensive error as Chiesa got the better of Kolarov. The Serbian was caught ball-watching as the young Italian pounced onto the cross from the left before slotting his first professional hat-trick for La Viola.
The 21-year old was substituted in the 77th minute amidst a standing ovation.
Giovanni Simeone does a cameo
When Chiesa was substituted in the 77th minute with La Viola leading 5-1, Nobody in the audience would've predicted that an out of form Simeone, coming off the bench just four minutes ago, would score a brace in the space of 13 minutes.
After a brilliant campaign last season, the Argentine has found it hard to find the form that saw him score 14 league goals last season. The striker so far has had a season to forget with just four goals in 21 matches in the league.
The striker though was ready from the minute he entered the field as Simeone slotted in the sixth goal of the match in the 79th minute after Edimilson Fernandes found a defence-splitting pass to find the striker who beautifully scored it past a hapless Olsen.
Another 10 minutes later, the striker was at it again as Jordan Veretout send an impressive ball across the Roma defence into the path of Simeone, who wasted no time in slotting in the seventh and final goal of the match.
