MILAN: Moise Kean fired Fiorentina level with Serie A leaders Napoli after scoring all three goals in Sunday's 3-1 win over Verona, while crisis club Roma sacked coach Ivan Juric following a 3-2 home defeat at the hands of Bologna.
Italy forward Kean has scored 11 times in all competitions for Fiorentina since signing from Juventus in the summer, and his first professional hat-trick moved his new team up to third on 25 points following a sixth straight league win.
Kean put Fiorentina ahead in the fourth minute in Florence with a fine finish and, after Suat Serdar smashed home an 18th-minute leveller, acrobatically flicked home the second just before the hour.
The 24-year-old, who has been reborn in Tuscany after failing to score a single goal at Juve last season, then completed his treble in stoppage time when he collected a long pass from goalkeeper David de Gea and surged forward before rifling home.
"I can't deny that I wanted him when I was at Monza, I think he's a great striker," coach Raffaele Palladino told DAZN.
"He's gathering the fruits of his own hard work... It's also down to the team, everyone defended and attacked together today."
Fiorentina and second-placed Atalanta trail Napoli, who face Inter Milan later on Sunday, despite having a superior goal difference as both teams have played one game more.
Atalanta, 2-1 winners over Udinese, cannot finish the day top as Inter are a point behind the leading trio in fourth place so whatever happens at the San Siro either the champions or Napoli will lead the pack come Sunday.
Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta won their sixth straight league match after coming back from going a goal down thanks to Mario Pasalic's leveller 11 minutes after half-time and an unfortunate own goal from Isaak Toure moments later.
Atalanta have won eight in an unbeaten run of 10 matches spanning all competitions and have deserved to be considered contenders for what would be their first ever Serie A title.
Under Gasperini and the guidance of the Percassi family, who are from Bergamo, Atalanta have slowly worked their way up from provincial also-rans to become one of Italy's top teams and last season's Europa League winners.
Buoyant supporters jokingly chanted "we're going to win the league" after watching their team battle back against Udinese who sit ninth on 16 points after their third straight defeat.
"You can't stop fans from dreaming... but the reality is that there's no point talking about the Scudetto now," said Gasperini.
"If we're still up there with seven or eight games to go then we'll start thinking about it but for now it's completely pointless."
Juric was sacked less than two months after being hired to replace Daniele De Rossi as Roma languish just four points above the relegation zone in 12th following another dismal performance in front of livid fans, a large chunk of whom decided to leave at half-time in protest.
Santiago Castro, Riccardo Orsolini and Jesper Karlsson gave eighth-placed Bologna an impressive win at Roma who were loudly booed before, during and after their fourth defeat in five league matches.
Roma are reportedly set to make former Italy coach Roberto Mancini their fourth coach of 2024 following Juric, De Rossi and Jose Mourinho, who was fired in January.
The capital club's technical director Florent Ghisolfi admitted that "history would suggest" that it was a mistake to sack De Rossi so early in the season.
"Right now all we can do, the players and the club, is take responsibility and try get out of this situation as soon as possible," said Ghisolfi to DAZN.
Roma, who scored through a Stephan El Shaarawy brace, travel to Napoli after the international break before then having to face Tottenham Hotspur in London and Atalanta at home.
And fans were on a war footing on Sunday both inside and outside the Stadio Olimpico where they waited for the players to leave before being forced away by police. - AFP