Fiorentina beat Benfica on penalties in the International Champions Cup, but there was a scare for Giuseppe Rossi.
The teams faced off in Hartford, Connecticut, meeting Benfica director of sport and former Viola star Manuel Rui Costa.
Paulo Sousa’s men needed a boost after losing the opening game 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain.
Josip Ilicic fired just over the bar and his angled drive skimmed the far post from the edge of the box.
Fiorentina beat Benfica on penalties in the International Champions Cup, but there was a scare for Giuseppe Rossi.
The teams faced off in Hartford, Connecticut, meeting Benfica director of sport and former Viola star Manuel Rui Costa.
Paulo Sousa’s men needed a boost after losing the opening game 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain.
Josip Ilicic fired just over the bar and his angled drive skimmed the far post from the edge of the box.
Jonathan Rodriguez forced Luigi Sepe into a tough save on the counter-attack, but Benfica held much of the first half possession.
Giuseppe Rossi came on for the second half and Ilicic came even closer to an opener, smacking his shot against the crossbar on a Borja Valero assist.
It was a surprisingly ill-tempered game with numerous bookings and a second yellow card for Benfica’s Luisao after he took down Ilicic.
The Slovenian skimmed the woodwork again from a free kick, then sent Ante Rabic through to force a Julio Cesar save.
Mario Suarez made his Fiorentina debut in the final 17 minutes, wearing the Number 15 jersey, but Rossi was substituted after a knock.
The game ended 0-0, so was decided on penalties, everyone finding the net until Luca Lezzerini parried from Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez to give Fiorentina victory.
This means the Viola now have two points in the International Champions Cup.
Fiorentina 0-0 Benfica (5-4 on pens)
Fiorentina: Sepe (Lezzerini 73); Tomovic (Diakhate 73), Gonzalo Rodriguez (Pasqual 73), Basanta (Roncaglia 58); Joaquin (Bagadur 76), Vecino (Badelj 58), Borja Valero (Hegazy 73), Alonso (Fazzi 58), Ilicic, Bernardeschi, Babacar (Rossi 46) (Rebic 76)
Benfica: Julio Cesar; Andrè Gomez, Jardel, Luisao, Eliseu (Silvio 59); Fejsa (Carcela-Gonzalez 84), Samaris (John 59), Talisca (Pizzi 59), Rodriguez (Cristante 72), Jonas (Lisandro Lopez 85), Gaitan (Nelson Oliveira 88)
Sent off: Luisao 66 (B)