Gabriel does Devils
by David Anderson
Fiorentina 2
Manchester United 0
IN the city of Botticelli, Michelangelo and Caravaggio, Manchester United felt the brunt of a different kind of artist in Gabriel Batistuta.
Instead of paints or oils, the awesome Argentinian uses the ball to display his immense talent on his canvas which is the pitch in Florence’s Stadio Comunale Artemio Franchi.
United simply had no answer to the Fiorentina striker as he scored the first goal before masterminding the second for Abel Balbo.
Fiorentina, who have won just one Serie A game in two months, were transformed from the side that scraped a goalless draw here against Arsenal in September as they sent United crashing to their heaviest defeat in the Champions League for five years.
United fans have to go back to November 1994 and the 3 1 defeat in Gothenburg for the last time their side lost by two goals.
Few would have predicted such a chastening experience for the Treble winners as they embarked on the second phase of the competition.
Mark Bosnich had recovered from his swollen knee to allow Alex Ferguson the rare luxury of naming a virtual full strength side. However, that did not make any difference against a clearly pumped up Fiorentina side.
Gary Neville had to make a telling intervention when he beat Batistuta to Rui Costa’s curling cross as El Batigol homed in on goal.
Rui Costa then robbed David Beckham in an anxious moment for United, but Henning Berg shepherded the Portuguese out towards the corner flag and the danger passed.
Beckham made amends when he hunted down Jorg Heinrich and won the ball off the Fiorentina left wing back to launch a swift United counter attack.
Beckham found Dwight Yorke running into the area and he pulled the ball back for Paul Scholes who shot narrowly wide.
Rui Costa, just like Marseille’s Robert Pires in the Stade Velodrome last month, was causing United problems with his runs from midfield.
From one such foray in the 18th minute he almost opened the scoring when he unleashed a powerful shot from 18 yards out, only for Bosnich to make a great save diving to his left.
Fiorentina should have scored when they caught United off guard on a counter attack.
Rui Costa played a delightful slide rule pass to Abel Balbo inside the United box, where Denis Irwin should have been, but instead of shooting he gave the ball away trying to square it to Batistuta.
United did not heed that warning and they gifted Fiorentina the lead.
There seemed little danger when Keane won the ball off Balbo. With no one available ahead he hit a sloppy backpass, which the lurking Batistuta ran on to and lashed home from 15 yards past a helpless Bosnich.
It was a most uncharacteristic blunder from Keane and one which will not have impressed his watching Serie A suitors, who want to bring him to Italy in the summer when his contract expires at Old Trafford.
Fiorentina almost doubled their lead two minutes later when Batistuta played Balbo through on the right, but this time Bosnich managed to save to his right.
Batistuta was flying and he tried his luck with an overhead kick, which flew way over to the relief of Bosnich.
Despite being second best for most of the first half, United almost went in on level terms at the interval.
Beckham hit a 30 yard free kick, which was saved by Toldo before bouncing off Alessandro Pierini and Aldo Firicano and hitting the bar.
Fiorentina were just inches away from adding a second goal 55 seconds after the interval.
Torricelli found Heinrich steaming into the United box with a great crossfield pass from the right and the German fired just past the far post.
That man Batistuta proved United’s undoing again on 51 minutes when he created Fiorentina’s second goal.
He blocked Berg’s attempted backpass, raced on to the loose ball and then pulled it back from the byline for Balbo to score from 10 yards out.
Batistuta, who averages an incredible goal every one and a half games in Serie A, was rampant and he cut through the United defence soon after only for Bosnich to beat him to the ball.
He was displaying the kind of form that prompted Ferguson to try twice in the last three years to sign him.How Ferguson must have wished that he had been able to prise him away from Florence and bring him to United.
With time ebbing away, Ferguson went for broke in the 62nd minute and threw on Phil Neville, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham.
Off came Andy Cole and Yorke on a night when they were put firmly in the shade by Batistuta.
That said, Sheringham and Solskjaer made little difference and the game went from bad to worse for United when Beckham was booked for dissent after he tried to take a quick free kick.
Keane was fortunate to escape a yellow card following a foul by Batistuta on Beckham when he grabbed Firicano by the throat in the resulting fracas. That, though, will be of little comfort to Ferguson as he surveys the wreckage of this match with Valencia, who he rates as United’s biggest rivals, next up at Old Trafford on December 8.
FIORENTINA: Toldo, Repka, Fircano, Pierlini Adani 79), Heinrich, Cois, Di Livio Rossitto 67), Torricelli, Rui Costa, Balbo Bressan 79), Batistuta.
MAN UTD: Bosnich, Irwin, Berg P. Neville 63), Stam, G. Neville, Giggs, Keane, Scholes, Beckham, Cole Sheringham 63), Yorke Solskjaer 63).
Referee: Bernd Heynemann Germany).
© The Examiner, 1999