Vincenzo Italiano acknowledges Fiorentina were only interested in three points away to Cukaricki, as they go top of their Conference League group.
The Viola beat this side 6-0 at the Stadio Franchi a couple of weeks ago, but that was helped by a red card sending the Serbians down to 10 men.
Their confidence was also low following three consecutive Serie A defeats without finding the net, so the coach is not too concerned that it was far from a scintillating performance, decided by the early M’Bala Nzola penalty.
“We came here to play our game and get the three points, so I think we achieved that,” Italiano told Sky Sport Italia.
“I am happy for Nzola, the way he earned the penalty. It’s true we could’ve scored more goals, but Cukaricki are a different team on home turf and that was evident this evening.”
There were a few scares at the other end, as once again Fiorentina failed to put a game to bed.
“Open matches are always dangerous, we know about that from last season with Riga. It was better if we had sealed it earlier, but our opponents put everyone behind the ball and we should’ve been quicker to move the ball around. In any case, the important thing was getting three points.”
Lucas Beltran was out injured today and Nico Gonzalez rested, which inevitably weakened their attacking potential even more.
“We hoped today Nzola would get his first Conference League goal and he got it. That can help boost his self-confidence. I particularly admire the way he won the penalty with that run, because he needs to attack the space more.”
The good news is that the other match between Ferencvaros and Genk ended in a 1-1 draw, so Fiorentina go from joint leaders to alone at the top of the group, with a two-point cushion.