The Viola had come back with Mandragora and a goal from Beltran following a mix-up by Falcone and Oudin’s goal, but the Salento players regained the success with two goals after the 90th minute, which had been missing for a month and a half
Two goals after the 90th minute, Piccoli’s equalizer and Dorgu’s final 3-2, give Lecce the return to the success that had been missing for a month and a half, since mid-December against Frosinone, a result that is worth +7 on the relegation zone . In anticipation of the second leg, Fiorentina will only have to cry for themselves if they see their cherished return to the Champions League slip away from their hands, with only two points in the last four matches. And it was close, turning the evening around – after a disappointing first half – with Mandragora, Beltran on a gift from Falcone and finally a much more aggressive attitude from Italiano. But then too much lightness in the recovery mocked the Viola, still without a victory in 2024.
TRANSPARENT FIORENTINA
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The final result for Fiorentina is the long wave of half the match thrown away. The Italian went to Via del Mare preferring Faraoni and Ranieri to Kayode and Milenkovic behind, and above all bringing Gonzalez and the latest arrival Belotti to the bench: Beltran inside with Nzola on the right and Sottil on the left, but the impact with the match was great incisiveness on the fasciae lasts only a few minutes. Time for a couple of restarts and it is Lecce who opens the purple box: they manage to do so by pushing on the left on the Banda-Gallo axis with Oudin in support to put the agreement that still needs to be built between Faraoni and Martinez under pressure. Fourth in the centre- right and the work of Maxime Lopez and Ranieri in support. It is from here that the first half of D’Aversa’s men was born, who with a goal and two woodwork collected even less than they could against a transparent Fiorentina.
LECCE MASTER
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The pitch tells of the hunger of a master Lecce: cross from the left by Gallo for the header of Kaba who hits the post while Almqvist saves Terracciano (11′). Then Krstovic who with a great ball tries to insert Almqvist, stopped by Quarta with a penalty foul (and yellow) then transformed after the video review into a free kick from the edge (14′). However, it is the moment in which the match breaks the deadlock, because on Oudin’s free kick from the edge the barrier opens between Sottil and Bonaventura and the ball goes in for Salento’s lead (17′). And Fiorentina must thank the post again if, before recovering after the first half hour of torpor, Lecce did not double their advantage when Banda served deep behind the lines, still between Faraoni and Quarta, looked for Krstovic who turned and took the woodwork ( 27′). And there is time before the break so that Blin, all alone on the corner, doesn’t waste the possible 2-0 with his head.
THE PURPLE TURNOVER
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After the only shot taken in the first half – a cross from the left by Biraghi for the head of Faraoni at the far post, who doesn’t even reach the target from an excellent position (35′) – the shock of the triple substitution is needed to ignite Fiorentina rest: Milenkovic, Belotti making his debut in Viola and Mandragora reopening the match. He did it in the 50th minute by clearing a ball outside the area to beat Kaba and starting the left-footed shot to equalize the score. Even with four attackers inside, and for the last half hour Gonzalez also appears again, the Viola first came close to taking the lead with Maxime Lopez blocked by Falcone then reached it in the 68th minute thanking the Salento goalkeeper himself, who exchanged the ball with Baschirotto in a throw-in from bottom gives Beltran a ball under pressure just to throw in for the Tuscan 2-1. But the crossbar that denies Belotti his debut goal in the 88th minute and Fiorentina’s safety goal is the beginning of the end for Italiano.
MOVIE ENDING
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If the guests take their foot off the accelerator too early, the Salento players never stop believing that they have been relaunched by the late entry of Piccoli and Sansone. The symbol of the disconnected plug is the disengagement from a Lecce corner kick with which Nzola offers an assist on the head of Piccoli, who imperiously scores a winning shot after the 90th minute which alone seems to give meaning to the evening. In reality, the rush of adrenaline gave Lecce the 3-2 goal in the space of two minutes: cross from the right for Krstovic’s turn blocked by Terracciano, but on the rebound Dorgu put it into the top corner and exploded the Via del Sea in a liberating joy that had been missing since December 16th. Having started the season with three unexpected victories in the first five matches, in the last 17 the only success was that 2-1 against Frosinone a month and a half ago and in the last six matches he had only scored one point against Cagliari. The relegation zone is moving away for Lecce, Fiorentina are left with only regrets.
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