Fiorentina scraped victory over 10-man Empoli with a Nico Gonzalez header, but the visitors were furious with the referee over two incidents.
The Viola were missing Jack Bonaventura and Alvaro Odriozola, with Krzysztof Piatek not at 100 per cent, so Arthur Cabral got his second Serie A start. Fabiano Parisi was suspended for the visitors, plus Riccardo Marchizza and Nicolas Haas long-term absentees for a side without a win in 13 rounds.
Cristiano Biraghi’s long-range screamer was palmed over the bar, while Cabral’s blushes were spared after a bad miss by the offside flag.
Lorenzo Tonelli was stretchered off with a knee injury, while Guglielmo Vicario needed a tricky save on Lucas Torreira’s glancing header.
Fiorentina got away with a huge mistake on 38 minutes. Riccardo Saponara’s dreadful backpass put Pietro Terracciano under pressure from Andrea Pinamonti and Federico Di Francesco acrobatically turned in the rebound with an overhead kick. However, VAR showed it was Terracciano who got to the ball first, Pinamonti caught his boot, so the goal was disallowed.
Fiorentina had the ball in the net on 52 minutes, but Saponara was offside before rolling across for Cabral to come sliding in.
Torreira was booked and will be suspended, but moments later Sebastiano Luperto received his second yellow card, reducing Empoli to 10 men. The visitors were absolutely furious, because his first booking probably wasn’t even a foul.
Fiorentina took the lead from the resulting free kick, which Biraghi whipped onto the head of Nico Gonzalez from six yards. The striker had to crouch down to get the right angle on it into the far bottom corner for his first goal since October 2021.
Saponara and Gaetano Castrovilli drilled off target, as 10-man Empoli struggled to get back into it, Vicario timing his interception perfectly in stoppages to prevent Riccardo Sottil scoring one-on-one.
Fiorentina 1-0 Empoli
Gonzalez 58 (F)
Sent off: Luperto 57 (E)