Fiorentina defender V. Valdepenas scored in stoppage time to complete a 4-2 victory against Sassuolo in Serie A on 2 November 2026, giving Paolo Vanoli's side only their second league win of the season and ending a run of five matches without three points.
The result matters beyond the scoreline. Even after it, Fiorentina sit 16th in Serie A with eight points from ten games — two wins, two draws, six defeats — and a goal difference that tells its own story: 15 scored, 23 conceded. A second victory, however hard-earned, does not transform that picture overnight, but it arrests a slide that had begun to look structural. Vanoli acknowledged the win was a long time coming.
Valdepenas's contribution was the fourth goal, arriving in stoppage time when the outcome was already tilting Fiorentina's way, but the manner of it — a defender adding a late, definitive touch — reflects something about how the viola needed to play to get over the line. Franco Mastantuono had scored in the 79th minute to restore the lead before Valdepenas made it four. Sassuolo, who had made wholesale changes to their lineup, scored twice, leading at 25' and drawing level at 65', which means Fiorentina had to absorb pressure as well as apply it.
For Valdepenas specifically, the goal is his first in Serie A this season across eight appearances, against a season average rating of 6.44 — a number that places him in the functional rather than influential bracket for a defender. His Coppa Italia involvement, two appearances without a goal or assist in that competition, adds minutes but not momentum to his profile. An AI overall of 65 out of 100, with a potential of 68, suggests a player whose ceiling is modest but whose floor is reliable — exactly the kind of profile a side fighting in the lower reaches of the table needs to activate.
Sassuolo, meanwhile, suffered a fourth consecutive defeat, and their coach Alberto Aquilani pointed to fragility as the defining problem. That Fiorentina, themselves a team with structural defensive concerns, were able to score four away from home is a data point worth noting.
Vanoli's Fiorentina now sit level on points with Sassuolo. Whether this win represents a turning point or a temporary reprieve depends on what comes next — but Valdepenas, at least, has given himself a moment to build on.