Serie A | Verona 0-1 Fiorentina: Fagioli steals massive victory for safety
Fiorentina thanked several big David De Gea saves and a Nicolò Fagioli goal against the run of play, beating Verona to break away from the drop zone.
This was a huge relegation dogfight, as the Viola were only two points clear of the drop zone and made the trip without Rolando Mandragora, Dodo, Fabiano Parisi, Manor Solomon, Niccolò Fortini, and Tariq Lamptey, but Moise Kean was risked from the start despite a recurring ankle issue.
Hellas were joint rock bottom with Pisa, missing Sandi Lovric, Armel Bella-Kotchap and Suat Serdar, although Domagoj Bradaric and Antoine Bernede were available again.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
Fiorentina had a huge chance to take the lead in the fourth minute when the Nicolò Fagioli volley from the edge of the area smacked the top of the crossbar.
At the other end, David De Gea needed a sensational one-handed save to deny the Bernede scorcher at the near post, but Kieron Bowie scuffed from a promising position on the Rafik Belghali pull-back.
De Gea flew again to palm a Gift Orban strike out from under the crossbar, then had an even tougher save on Oyegoke after Bowie pounced on a Marin Pongracic error.
Verona kept pushing after the restart, as three times they flashed dangerous balls across the face of goal, with nobody able to get the tap-in, most dangerously when Bowie was inches away from getting his boot to it from four yards.
Bowie also cut inside to bend a left-foot finish just over the bar, but it was Fiorentina who took the lead completely against the run of play. Jack Harrison got down the right and laid it off for Fagioli to sweep in first time with the right foot from 14 yards. The home fans and players were furious, because only moments earlier the referee had stopped play for a Fagioli injury in a clash with Roberto Gagliardini.
The tension spilled out when Tomas Suslov and Albert Gudmundsson got into a brawl before a Verona free kick, leading to them both getting sent off with ripped jerseys.
It was a tough slog, but Fiorentina leapfrog Cagliari in the standings and practically doom Verona to relegation.
Verona 0-1 Fiorentina
Fagioli 82 (F)
Sent off: Gudmundsson 85 (F), Suslov 85 (V)
Player statistic
| Roberto Gagliardini | 17' |
| Victor Nelsson | 79' | |||
| 82' | Nicolò Fagioli (Assist: Jack Harrison) | |||
| 84' | Nicolò Fagioli | |||
| Tomas Suslov | 85' | |||
| 85' | Albert Gudmundsson | |||
| Rafik Belghali | 88' |