Fiorentina got back on track to see off Udinese with Gaetano Castrovilli and Giacomo Bonaventura on target, despite mass squad rotation again.
The Viola were coming off a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to FC Basel in the Conference League semi-final and had the second leg coming up, so the squad was rotated. The Friulani continued to fight through an injury crisis, missing Isaac Success, Gerard Deulofeu, Kingsley Ehizibue, Simone Pafundi and Enzo Ebosse, while Beto was only fit for the bench.
Alfred Duncan unleashed a missile from 30 yards out that smashed against the upright, a Lorenzo Venuti cross back in was knocked down by Rodrigo Becao and turned into an accidental assist for Gaetano Castrovilli to score from six yards.
Moments later the Viola had the ball in the net again with Antonin Barak, but it was disallowed for a tight Jonathan Ikone offside position, and Cristiano Biraghi’s free kick skimmed the near top corner.
Fiorentina broke on the counter from an Udinese corner and Josip Brekalo drew out the goalkeeper, rolling the finish onto the upright of an open goal.
There were opportunities at both ends, as Christian Kouame failed to make the most of a poor Festy Ebosele clearance, then Sandi Lovric scuffed the volley wide of the target.
A deflection took the sting out of a Lazar Samardzic scorcher from distance, but Udinese introduced 18-year-old Vivaldo and within a minute he had rattled the woodwork with a looping header that thumped the upright.
Fiorentina secured the victory in the final minute with veteran Jack Bonaventura, who ran forward from midfield, cut inside to send a defender to ground and fired into the near bottom corner from 15 yards.
It would’ve been 3-0 moments later if not for Marco Silvestri’s one-handed save on the Nico Gonzalez counter-attack.
Tension erupted after the final whistle between Bonaventura and Roberto Pereyra, sparking a series of scuffles, resulting in red cards for Bonaventura and Rodrigo Becao.
Fiorentina 2-0 Udinese
Castrovilli 7 (F), Bonaventura 90 (F)
Sent off: Bonaventura 96 (F), Becao 96 (U)
Player statistic
| Gaetano Castrovilli |  |
7' | ||
| 42' |  |
Festy Ebosele | ||
| Cristiano Biraghi | |
45+4' | ||
| 45+1' | |
Walace |
| 58' | |
Marvin Zeegelaar | ||
| Nikola Milenkovic | |
69' | ||
| Lorenzo Venuti | |
73' | ||
| Giacomo Bonaventura (Assist: Gaetano Castrovilli) |
|
90+1' | ||
| Giacomo Bonaventura |  |
90+6' | ||
| 90+6' | |
Rodrigo Becão |
Match statistic
