Federico Bernardeschi’s last-gasp penalty sent Fiorentina to the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, but both the Viola and Chievo went down to 10 men.
The Tuscans go through to face Napoli in the quarter-finals on January 24. Gonzalo Rodriguez sat out a ban with Davide Astori injured, while the Flying Donkeys wanted to make up for Sunday’s humiliating 4-1 Serie A home defeat to Atalanta.
Federico Bernardeschi’s last-gasp penalty sent Fiorentina to the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, but both the Viola and Chievo went down to 10 men.
The Tuscans go through to face Napoli in the quarter-finals on January 24. Gonzalo Rodriguez sat out a ban with Davide Astori injured, while the Flying Donkeys wanted to make up for Sunday’s humiliating 4-1 Serie A home defeat to Atalanta.
Mauro Zarate curled just wide from the edge of the box in the opening minutes, but at the other end Antonio Floro Flores blasted over as he got on the end of a Lucas Castro assist.
Chievo threatened again and really should’ve done better when Ciprian Tatarusanu misread a Jonathan De Guzman cross and Roberto Inglese missed the target.
Fiorentina protested as Federico Chiesa was sprinting towards the penalty area when he seemed to be barged off the ball by Samuel Bastien, but the referee waved play on.
Chievo did go down to 10 men in first half stoppages, as Ivan Radovanovic received his second yellow card for bringing down Nenad Tomovic on the edge of the box.
With the last kick of the half, Bernardeschi curled a marvellous free kick that smacked the crossbar with Stefano Sorrentino beaten.
Matias Vecino’s snapshot was palmed round the post and that sparked a siege on Stefano Sorrentino’s goal, which resulted in Nicolas Spolli clearing Chiesa’s effort off the line. Chiesa’s cross-shot was cleared off the line on to the inside of the post by Mariano Izco, then Kalinic ballooned the follow-up over.
Fiorentina became increasingly frustrated and were also reduced to 10 men, as Zarate received a straight red for his tackle from behind on Bastien. It might’ve seemed harsh, but the foot was high, raking studs down the Chievo defender’s calf.
The Flying Donkeys saw their confidence grow, as Tatarusanu needed a desperate save from point-blank range on Lucas Castro’s header and Mariano Izco wasted a promising counter-attack.
Just as extra time seemed inevitable, Massimo Gobbi tripped Bernardeschi from behind for a penalty. Bernardeschi stepped up and kept his cool to convert, sending the Viola into the quarter-finals.
Fiorentina 1-0 Chievo
Bernardeschi pen 93 (F)
Fiorentina: Tatarusanu; Tomovic, De Maio, Sanchez, Olivera (Ilicic 78); Vecino, Badelj (Cristoforo 78); Chiesa (Valero 90), Zarate, Bernardeschi; Kalinic
Chievo: Sorrentino; Izco, Spolli, Cesar, Gobbi; Bastien, Radovanovic, Castro (Birsa 82); De Guzman; Inglese (Meggiorini 78), Floro Flores (Gamberini 46)
Ref: Celi
Sent off: Radovanovic 45+3 (C), Zarate 73 (F)