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Teenage sensation Franco Mastantuono struck a hat-trick as Fiorentina finally got their Serie A campaign up and running at the fourth attempt, sealing an entertaining 4-2 away win over Venezia on Friday evening. Mateo Pellegrino, Akor Adams and Antoine Hainaut were the other scorers on the night.

This was Paolo Vanoli’s first match back in charge after he was brought in to replace Fabio Grosso after only three games of the 2026-27 Serie A season. Grosso had presided over Fiorentina’s worst start to a Serie A campaign since the 1930s, and sporting director Fabio Paratici later explained that the former coach who was sacked did not have faith in the project or in the squad assembled for him during the summer.

Paolo Vanoli, who had stepped down as Fiorentina head coach at the end of the 2025-26 season, was appointed again and opted to reshuffle half of his starting XI following last weekend’s defeat to Torino. He made five changes among his outfield players and handed Beto his full Viola debut after his late-summer move from Everton.

Fiorentina started with clear intent, eager to make amends for their poor opening weeks of the 2026-27 season, and they created several early chances through Beto, Mastantuono, Alex Jimenez and Cher Ndour.

Even so, despite that early pressure, Venezia took the lead against the run of play midway through the first half. Club-record signing Akor Adams found space on the right side of the box and produced a fine first-time finish into the far corner for his first Serie A goal.

Vanoli will have been encouraged by Fiorentina’s response, as they drew level just five minutes after Adams had scored. Mastantuono, on loan from Real Madrid, cut in from the right onto his left foot and drilled an effort in at the near post from the edge of the area in trademark Arjen Robben style. It was an excellent finish and the 19-year-old’s first goal in Serie A.

The Argentine youngster did not take long to score the second goal of his Serie A career, finding the net again the very next time he touched the ball just over a minute later.

Venezia gave the ball away almost straight from the restart, Ridgeciano Haps slipped badly in defence, and Beto squared it to Mastantuono, who struck another left-footed shot from the edge of the area in off the far post to make it 2-0.

The second half began in the reverse fashion to the first. After going behind despite leading earlier in the opening period, Venezia emerged in search of a quick equaliser and posed a threat for much of the first 15 minutes after the break.

Just when Fiorentina were beginning to look genuinely vulnerable, they broke forward through Pellegrino on the counter. The Argentine, introduced from the bench in the second half, had much of the Venezia half to run through before calmly sliding the ball under Filip Stankovic and into the bottom corner to restore Fiorentina’s two-goal advantage.

That lead stretched to three in the final 10 minutes when Mastantuono completed his hat-trick. After sustained pressure from a Fiorentina corner, Cher Ndour floated the ball over the final line of defence, Mastantuono stayed onside, attempted to lift it over Stankovic, saw it rebound off the goalkeeper, then off his own face, and finally into the net for 4-1.

There was another twist in a frantic finish, as Venezia pulled one back almost immediately afterwards. Ridgeciano Haps sent in a deep cross from the left touchline that was too high for Lion Lauberbach in the middle, but it dropped kindly for Antoine Hainaut, who lashed it home first time on the volley.

The result leaves Venezia stuck at the bottom of the Serie A table with zero points and a goal difference of -8 after four matches, while Fiorentina have climbed out of the relegation zone into 15th place on three points, with their goal difference improving to -6.

Scorers: Adams (V) 22’, Mastantuono (F) 29’, 30’, 84’, Pellegrino (F) 66’, Hainaut (V) 86’.