Fiorentina deservedly dumped Roma out of the Coppa Italia on Tuesday after a 2-0 win in what was ultimately a disappointing spectacle at Stadio Olimpico.
A Mario Gomez brace settled proceedings in a match of few chances.
The Giallorossi started brightly, with Adem Ljajic forcing an early corner. After the ball was cleared to the edge of the box, a wonderful chipped pass from Radja Nainggolan saw Alessandro Florenzi in, but he blazed over.
Fiorentina began to grow into the game and were almost gifted a goal when Lukas Skorupski miskicked with Gomez bearing down, but was bailed out by Kostas Manolas. Shortly after, Joaquin got the better of Nainggolan to burst into the box, but his cross was poor.
A wonderful Maicon cross was just missed by Florenzi before Ciprian Tatarusanu pulled off a fine save from Nainggolan’s resulting drive.
Some neat build-up play almost allowed Diamanti in, but the final ball was lacking from Joaquin. At the opposite end another fine run from Nainggolan set up Paredes, who blasted over.
A strong Diamanti half-volley just after the interval threatened to break the deadlock but whistled just wide.
Ljajic’s quick feet set up Nainggolan but his shot was well off target, whilst a Diamanti cross from deep just went over Gomez’s head.
Fiorentina finally took the lead as Gomez got on the end of an excellent cross to flick the ball into the far corner. The move started from a stunning long range pass from Borja Valero to Manuel Pasqual, who turned it in for Gomez.
The goal brought a new sense of belief to Fiorentina, who began to control possession. Valero almost put Gomez in again but Keita cut out the final pass. Roma were becoming increasingly stretched at the back and struggled to cope with the Viola’s counter attacks.
Late on Ashley Cole broke into the box but couldn’t find a teammate, summing up the Giallorossi’s night.
Gomez sealed the victory with just over a minute remaining after getting on to a well placed pass to smash the ball into the top of the net.
