Fiorentina can ‘take nothing for granted’ as Dodo enjoyed incredible goal
Dodo explains his extraordinary solo goal in Fiorentina’s 4-1 win over Cremonese, while Fabiano Parisi admits ‘nothing can be taken for granted’ in a relegation fight.
The Viola knew the pressure was on at the Stadio Giovanni Zini in a relegation dogfight, as they were just one point ahead of Cremonese and the bottom three going into this game.
They had a few concerning moments, such as an early David De Gea save and Nicolò Fagioli goal-line clearance, but ran out 4-1 winners thanks to goals from Parisi, Roberto Piccoli, Dodo and Albert Gudmundsson.
David Okereke got one back for the hosts, who are now without a win in 15 Serie A rounds, scoring only five goals during that time.
Dodo and Parisi inspired Fiorentina victory
“We targeted this game all week, it was a head-to-head and so important to win, but we’ve done nothing yet and have to keep concentrated in every match,” Dodo told DAZN Italia.
“It’s not just about Serie A, but also the Conference League, we’ve got to keep focused and take it one game at a time.”
The Brazilian had not scored yet in the league this season, but he saved it all up with a sensational solo run from his own half and joked he’d scored the best of the game.
“Mine was better, I beat three players! I think one player stumbled, I got there and waited until the last second, as someone was coming at me quickly, so I tried a dummy and let him go by me.”
Did Carlo Ancelotti maybe see that goal and consider calling Dodo up for Brazil?
“The call-ups were today, so we’ll see what happens,” he laughed.
Unfortunately for the Fiorentina player, Ancelotti already named his squad for upcoming friendlies against France and Croatia before kick-off, so Dodo was not included.
This result takes Fiorentina up to 16th place on 28 points, leapfrogging Lecce on 27 and leaving the relegation zone behind on 24.
It was not to be taken for granted that Fiorentina would have the right mindset for a relegation tussle, seeing as they were fresh off a 2-1 Conference League Round of 16 victory over Rakow, and preparing for Thursday’s second leg in Poland.
Top scorer Moise Kean was also only fit for the bench, with Niccolò Fortini, Manor Solomon, Luca Lezzerini and Tariq Lamptey injured.
“The reality is that unfortunately we are down there, even if we have quality in the squad, so we’ve got to keep picking up points in every game,” Parisi told DAZN Italia.
“Nothing is to be taken for granted, even if we are Fiorentina, so we have to keep playing like this and fighting for every point.”
The 4-1-4-1 formation is giving Parisi a new more advanced role as an attacking winger, and he admits the goal was something he’d tried in training.
“The coach gave me this new role and the opponents know I am left-footed, so I practice in training to cut inside and shoot with my right, this is what I did and it worked, thankfully also with the deflection.”