Easter Sunday began as it always does in Florence, with a dove being fired out of a cathedral on a rocket. For the 49th consecutive year, the bird (a mechanical one, happily) found its target: a large cart full of explosives in the Piazza Duomo, kicking off a firework display known as Lo scoppio del carro.
The event has its origins in the Crusades, and specifically in the story of a Florentine soldier who was said to have been the first to scale the walls of Jerusalem at the end of the 11th century. He earned a set of flints from his commander as a reward, which are used today to light the candle that lights the fire that eventually ignites the fuse trailing out of that poor dove’s undercarriage.
Thousands of spectators show up to see the fireworks every year, though most will be less interested in the history of it all than the opportunity to take in a show. After all, what else are people supposed to watch on a Sunday with no Serie A on TV?
In an era when traditional kick-off schedules have been torn up to fit in with broadcasters’ demands, Easter remains one holiday upon which Italian football’s administrators refuse to encroach. All 10 of this weekend’s Serie A matches were played on Saturday, so as not to interfere with religious celebrations on the Sabbath. Serie B went further, getting their full slate of games completed by Thursday.
Not that you would have caught anyone complaining in Florence. Such scheduling had allowed for consecutive days of explosive displays in the city. If the Piazza Duomo was the place to be on Sunday morning, then the Stadio Artemio Franchi had been the perfect spot to take in some footballing fireworks on Saturday night.
At first, Fiorentina’s match against Sampdoria threatened to turn into a washout. Much was expected of an encounter between two sides chasing a Champions League berth, but a combination of heavy rain before kick-off – leading to an even heavier pitch – and negative tactics from the visitors resulted in the game getting bogged down in midfield.
Sampdoria’s lack of ambition was surprising. They arrived at this fixture fourth in the table, two points ahead of Fiorentina and seeking to extend a four-game winning run that included victories over both Roma and Inter. Their manager, Sinisa Mihajlovic, told reporters he had encouraged his players to shoot for the moon, since that way “even if you don’t make it, you will still land on the stars”.
But his team looked uninterested in the idea of shooting anywhere as they held together on the edge of their own area. It was a strategy perhaps designed with one particular opponent in mind. Mohamed Salah has thrived so far at Fiorentina during his loan from Chelsea by exploiting the gaps between defenders who underestimate his acceleration. By keeping 10 men behind the ball, Samp ensured that he had no spaces to attack.
Had the visitors held out a few moments longer, Salah might even have been withdrawn. Vincenzo Montella was preparing to introduce Juan Vargas from the bench in the 61st when another forward, Alessandro Diamanti, finally broke the deadlock. Unable to unpick Sampdoria’s packed defence, the former West Ham man instead simply curved a shot through the crowd into the far corner of the net.
At last, the touchpaper was lit. Three minutes later, Salah came fizzing out of midfield like a dove departing a cathedral. He slalomed past two defenders before barging the third out of the way and fulminating a right-footed shot into the roof of the net.
This was the moment that the crowd had been waiting for. “Siam venuti fin qua per vedere segnare Salah,” runs the new favourite chant of the Curva Fiesole – “We came here to see Salah score.”
He had not done so in almost a month before Saturday, but his Serie A strike rate still stands at one goal for every 94 minutes played – placing him second only to Napoli’s Duván Zapata (one goal every 87 minutes). Throw in a Europa League strike against Tottenham and a Coppa Italia brace away to Juventus and it is easy to see why Salah is already so keenly adored.
Variously referred to as “the Messi of the Pyramids”, “the Purple Pharaoh” or “the Goal Sheikh” by the local press, he has already achieved that modern Italian milestone of having a pizza created in his honour. One adoring fan even carved a heart and the player’s name into the wooden front door of the house Salah has been renting.
Such adulation is amplified by the warmth with which Salah receives it. After helping his team to eliminate Roma from the Europa League, Salah posted a video of himself celebrating with supporters on Instagram, saying that he had “so much love” for them. After finally being withdrawn from Saturday’s game against Sampdoria, he agreed to take a selfie with a fan sat near the subs’ bench.
Even before he first set foot on a pitch for Fiorentina, Salah made all the right noises. At his official unveiling, he told reporters “I have no intention of returning to Chelsea,” saying that he hoped for a long and fruitful stay with his new club.
He is likely to get his wish. Fiorentina hold an option to extend Salah’s loan for another season beyond this one, and another to buy him outright for a reported €16m in 2016.
Montella has refused to commit the club to such a permanent deal, reiterating on Saturday that “the important thing is that he will be here next season”. But unless the player’s form fades away badly over the next 15 months, it is hard to see why the Viola would pass on such a talent – still just 22 years old – at such a modest fee.
Salah has not just been an individual success for Fiorentina but also a tactical one, lending his team a directness that they previously lacked. His pace and willingness to run at defenders have allowed Fiorentina to play fast, counterattacking football when it suits them rather than always relying on the possession and patience that had been the hallmark of Montella’s teams.
It might still be too little, too late to help them reach the Champions League through a top-three finish. Asked if Fiorentina might now have a chance of breaking into the top three, Vincenzo Montella pointed out that Lazio – who won their seventh consecutive league game this weekend – were already six points clear and “running away”.
The Biancocelesti might be the one opponent that even Salah cannot outsprint. But Fiorentina still have the Europa League and Coppa Italia to compete for as well. Their squad is robust enough to sustain the challenge on three fronts, the sale of Cuadrado to Chelsea not only landing them Salah in return, but also making room on the wage bill for Montella to add Diamanti and Alberto Gilardino up front.
With Giuseppe Rossi set to return to training this week after his latest absence, the potential for growth is tremendous. There are good reasons to believe that this firework show is only just getting started.
Talking points
• There might not have been any games on Easter Sunday, but Inter did oblige their players to show up for training after they could only draw 1-1 at home to last-placed Parma. As the sporting director, Piero Ausilio, put it after the game, “The players took their holiday yesterday, and another one today, so tomorrow they will work”.
• Remember Filippo, the nine-year-old boy who earned international fame – and an invite to Inter training – in 2012 when he showed up at San Siro with a banner begging the Nerazzurri to win so that his classmates would stop making fun of him at school? Well, he made his comeback on Saturday with a sign advising his team that: “I still have six years of school left …”
• A very different set of banners were unfurled by Roma fans at the Stadio Olimpico, taking aim at Antonella Leardi – mother of Ciro Esposito, the Napoli fan who was shot dead on his way to the Coppa Italia final in the capital last May. Leardi had presented a new book about her son, titled Ciro Vive (Ciro Lives), at the same stadium last week, saying that she hoped his death could ultimately serve to unite all those who were horrified by it. The slogans presented in the Curva Sud on Saturday suggested otherwise. “What a sad thing,” read the most prominent. “Making profits from the funeral with books and interviews.”
Leardi responded with restraint, saying that she would “pray for God to change the heart of these people”. But Roma’s owner, James Pallotta, was forthright in condemning the banners, saying via a statement: “AS Roma considers any events that lead to the loss of life at a football match, as occurred in the cases of Ciro Esposito, Antonio De Falchi, Gabriele Sandri, Vincenzo Spagnolo, Filippo Raciti, Vincenzo Paparelli and others, to be a defeat for civil society as a whole regardless of affiliations to clubs or fan groups.
“The enormous pain that follows such events deserves maximum, unconditional respect from all and necessitates that all parties – fans, clubs and law enforcement agencies – strive to ensure that such pain is not renewed, not even verbally, in the stands of a stadium.”
• On the pitch, Roma could draw great encouragement from a 1-0 victory over Napoli that went a long way towards strengthening the Giallorossi’s Champions League prospects. They remain second, one point ahead of Lazio, but this was their first home win since November. Perhaps not coincidentally, for a side that relies on goals from midfield, this was also the first time that Miralem Pjanic had scored over the same span.
• The title race might effectively be over, but the battle to become Serie A’s capocannoniere is heating up nicely. Jérémy Ménez briefly pulled level with Carlos Tevez on 16 goals with a fabulous solo effort against Palermo, but the Argentinian quickly got back in front by crashing home an indirect free-kick inside the box after a questionable back-pass decision had gone Juve’s way against Empoli.
• Neither of those was the goal of the week, mind – that honour falling to Atalanta’s Mauricio Pinilla and his spectacular overhead kick against Torino. Sadly for his team, the striker followed that up by getting himself sent off for a preposterously unnecessary kick at Migjen Basha in what finished up as a 2-1 defeat.
• The game of the weekend took place at the Bentegodi, where Verona raced out to a 3-0 lead over Cesena – aided by a pair of goals from the ageless Luca Toni – one a splendid volley – only to get pegged back before the end to 3-3. It could yet turn out to be a crucial result for Cesena, who were able to close the gap on 17th-placed Atalanta to four points.
Results
Atalanta 1-2 Torino, Cagliari 1-3 Lazio, Fiorentina 2-0 Sampdoria, Genoa 1-1 Udinese, Inter 1-1 Parma, Juventus 2-0 Empoli, Palermo 1-2 Milan, Roma 1-0 Napoli, Sassuolo 1-0 Chievo, Verona 3-3 Cesena
