Defeat Torino, Ranieri Brings Fiorentina Back To The Top Four

Fiorentina defender Luca Ranieri scored in the Italian Serie A match against Torino. (X/@afcfiorentina)

JAKARTA - Fiorentina worked hard to beat Torino 1-0 in the Italian Serie A match at the Artemio Franchi Stadium, Saturday, December 30 in the morning WIB. Luca Ranieri's only goal brought Fiorentina to the top four.

Competition for slots in the Champions League zone is getting tighter. Bologna, who is ranked fourth, received serious threats from Fiorentina, AS Roma, and Napoli.

Napoli have not fully managed to close points with Bologna because they only got one point after drawing 1-1 against Monza. The result put Napoli in seventh place with 28.

On the other hand, Fiorentina succeeded in displacing Bologna. They entered the Champions League zone by placing fourth after a narrow win over Torino.

The victory made La Viola have 33 points. Fiorentina not only shifted Bologna but also matched AC Milan's points. Only, I Rossoblu still lost the goal difference with Milan.

Meanwhile, Torino is stuck in 10th place. Having points 24, Toro's second position is safe in the middle board. They are already far ahead of Cagliari who is in the relegation zone.

The match itself went a draw. Torino had threatened Fiorentina's defense through Duvan Zapata's header in the 24th minute.

But goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano made a brilliant save by parrying the ball.

Fiorentina had a golden opportunity when Jonathan Ikone managed to cut Adrien Tameze's back-pass towards the end of the first half.

Icone also just faced goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, but he failed to conquer him.

In the second half, Fiorentina played attacking to press the opponent's defense. But the hosts had to wait until the game was almost over when Ranieri found Torino's goal in the 83rd minute.

The goal that broke the deadlock started with Michael Kayode's cross from the right.

The cross was greeted by Ranieri who broke into Torino's goal. This is Ranieri's fourth goal this season. The 24-year-old defender also confirmed that he was a productive defender scoring goals.

The 1-0 score for Fiorentina lasted until the end of the match. Coach Vincenzo Italiano was satisfied because the team could close 2023 with a win.

"We did an extraordinary 2023," Italiano was quoted as saying by Football Italia.

"We had a lot of games and had extraordinary and satisfying moments. We closed this year with a win that was not easy. Once again we showed we never gave up," he said.