Franco Mastantuono Shines with Hat-Trick for Fiorentina

Franco Mastantuono ripped up the script in Venice.

Fiorentina’s 19-year-old loanee produced a stunning hat-trick to haul the Viola to a 4-2 win over Venezia in the fourth round of Serie A, a night that may end up defining his season – and perhaps his career.

For a while, though, it looked like a very different story.

Akor Adams fired Venezia in front in the 22nd minute, punishing a sluggish Fiorentina start and sending the home crowd surging to its feet. The Viola wobbled. Venezia smelled blood.

Then Mastantuono took over.

The Real Madrid starlet, on loan in Florence for the season, flipped the game in the space of two breathless minutes. First, in the 29th, he struck to level the match, sparking Fiorentina into life. Barely a heartbeat later, in the 30th minute, he scored again, turning a deficit into a lead almost single-handedly and silencing the stadium.

Venezia never really recovered from that one-two punch.

Fiorentina grew in control and, as the hosts chased, gaps began to appear. Matteo Pellegrino stepped into the spotlight in the 66th minute, adding the third and tightening the visitors’ grip on the contest.

The pressure told again late on. Mastantuono, already the clear protagonist of the night, completed his hat-trick in the 84th minute, sealing the points and underlining just how comprehensively he had bent the match to his will.

Only then did Venezia find a response, Antony Haino pulling one back as a late consolation. By that stage, though, the scoreboard – 4-2 to Fiorentina – told the story: this was Mastantuono’s night.

His impact went beyond the result. According to ESPN, the Argentine has now overtaken compatriot Lionel Messi as the youngest Argentine to score a hat-trick in one of Europe’s five major leagues. At 19 years and 28 days, Mastantuono achieved the feat 231 days earlier in his life than Messi did when he hit his first career treble for Barcelona against Real Madrid on 10 March 2007.

These were also Mastantuono’s first goals for Fiorentina since his summer arrival from Real Madrid on a one-season loan. Remarkably, the treble already brings him level with his entire goal tally from last season in Spain, when he scored three times across 35 matches for Real Madrid.

One night in Venice, and a teenager on loan has turned a routine league fixture into a line in the record books. Now the question is simple: how far can he push Fiorentina – and himself – from here?