AC Florence, bottom of the Serie A table, finally achieved the long-awaited breakthrough on Sunday: the 5-1 win—the Viola’s first ever—was helped along by a player from Düsseldorf.
Without Gosens, who is still out with a thigh injury, Florence is stumbling through the Serie A season. The Viola had not won a single game in their first 15 matches, but thanks to six draws, they were “only” eight points behind safety at the bottom of the table before the match day.
Against tenth-placed Udinese on Sunday, the first three points of the season, which is anything but young, were up for grabs. In Gosens’ absence, another German actually played a key role: in the seventh minute, Udinese’s Düsseldorf-born keeper Okoye finally came out of his goal, played the ball with his hand and then cleared striker Kean. A red card was the result.
With a man advantage, the Viola increasingly stamped their authority on the game. However, it took a set piece to break the deadlock: Fagioli flicked the ball on from a central position in front of the penalty area and Mandragora thundered it into the net – leaving Okoye’s replacement Sava with little chance (21′).
Double strike before the break
Shortly before the break, Florence sealed the deal with a double strike: first, Gudmundsson scored with a spectacular left-footed shot into the top right corner, then Ndour coolly headed in Fagioli’s assist to make it 3-0 (42nd, 45+5). Any hopes of a comeback for the visitors were dashed by Kean: Parisi, who had set up the second goal, thundered the ball against the right post, leaving the Italian Fiorentina striker with the simple task of tapping it in (56′).
Solet made the score look a little better with a dream curling shot into the far corner (66′), but almost immediately Kean completed his brace and restored the four-goal lead with a powerful right-footed shot into the near corner (68′).
In the final quarter of an hour, Udinese, down to ten men, were unable to reduce the deficit again. However, Fiorentina’s first Serie A win of the season was already in the bag. With nine points now, the Viola are looking forward to next Saturday’s crucial relegation battle with Parma Calcio.