Fiorentina drew 3-3 against Hungarian side Puskas Akademia in the first leg of the Conference League play-offs at the end of a dramatic match in which Viola immediately went down by two goals in 12 shocking minutes, then was able to overturn the result, finally suffered the comeback of the guests. Now for the passage to the group stage of the competition lost in the final in the last two years, the return match in Hungary next week will be decisive.
A first half full of errors and almost entirely to forget for Raffaele Palladino’s team, who in his first match in Europe as a coach presents Fiorentina with essentially three new players compared to the expectations of the eve: Parisi in defense in place of Biraghi, Bianco in midfield for Amrabat and Beltran as central striker in place of Kean. Eight minutes and the French referee Delajod whistles a penalty to the Hungarians for a clear foul in the area by Kayode on Nagy: on the action, Bianco’s pass back towards his teammate was slow, as was the intervention of the Viola defender who went for the ball with too much sufficiency. Penalty that was converted by the captain Nagy himself. Four minutes and Puskas doubled the lead: Kayode made another mistake with a central ball in midfield, recovery by Ormonde-Ottewill who immediately started the Hungarians’ counterattack by launching Soisalo at speed, who entered the area from the right and beat De Gea with a sharp diagonal. For almost the entire first half, the Viola make many mistakes in their set-up, at times they seem like a confused team. At the end of the half, however, they manage to become more incisive. In the 42nd minute, Bianco tries with a great long-distance shot but the ball hits the top corner. In full injury time (47′), Fiorentina manages to close the gap: Sottil receives the ball inside the area and curls it into the bottom right corner of Pecsi where the goalkeeper can’t reach it. At the start of the second half, Palladino leaves Kayode and Beltran in the locker room to bring on Dodo and Kean. The Viola restart with a different, more proactive attitude. In search of the equalizer. In the 52nd minute, Kean comes close, served in the area by Quarta after a solo action, but his diagonal shot on the turn is deflected by Pecsi’s footwork who sends the ball to the corner. In the 56th minute, Palladino also plays the Ikone card for Colpani. In the 53rd minute Fiorentina was close to scoring: the ball went out of the area on the corner, Dodo kicked from outside but just missed the target. In the 65th minute Fiorentina had a great chance: Sottil’s pass went straight in, Ikoné found himself alone in front of the goalkeeper and kicked wide. The goal was close. And it came in the 67th minute: From a corner Quarta headed the ball in from the centre of the area to make it 2-2. Two minutes later Fiorentina also had a chance to take the lead: Sottil sent Ikoné through on goal who saw Kean alone in the centre of the area but the Frenchman’s pass was too strong and wasted an incredible chance. In the 75th minute Fiorentina made a comeback: Ikone recovered the ball in midfield and passed it to Kean who quickly entered the area where he unleashed a diagonal that went in to the right of Pecsi to make it 3-2. Puskas, however, did not give up and in the 80th minute came very close to equalising with a close-range header from Nissila and a great save from De Gea who deflected the ball into a corner.
But it all started with a mistake coming out of the Viola. The equalizer is in the area and comes in the 89th minute with a header from Golla who, following a corner kick, jumps undisturbed in the center of the area. And after four minutes of injury time, the French referee Delajod blows the final whistle. Everything postponed until the return match in Hungary.
