A late goal from Mounir Obbadi gave Hellas Verona a dramatic 1-0 win over Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Serie A on Monday evening.
La Viola did have an Alessandro Diamanti penalty saved by Rafael in the second half, though Vincenzo Montella clearly had more than an eye on Thursday’s Europa League tie, making eight changes from the team that drew with Dynamo Kiev in the first-leg.
After an early headed chance from Bosko Jankovic which was directed into the hands of Neto, Fiorentina took control of the game, pinning Verona back into their own half.
Alessandro Diamanti had a shot deflected wide, before Josip Ilicic directed a weak effort at Rafael, with Diamanti against having a go from distance.
Verona’s Brazilian goalkeeper then pulled off a brilliant save as Alberto Gilardino got on the end of an Andrea Lazzari cross, but only for Rafael managed to flew to his right and tipped the ball for a corner.
As the half drew to a close Fiorentina continued to push for the opener, but found it difficult to break the tough Hellas defence.
Almost instantly in the second period Lazzari was put in on goal, but checked back and eventually set up Diamanti whose subsequent shot was blocked.
Fiorentina were still finding it hard to get by a stubborn Verona defence, though did go close through Alberto Aquilani, who shot wide. While Diamanti saw an effort deflected for a corner.
Vincenzo Montella then introduced Khouma Babacar in a bid to break the deadlock, but the Senegalese striker lasted just seven minutes on the pitch and came off injured, being replaced by Mohamed Salah.
Then just after the hour mark, Gilardino was bundled over in the box by Rafael with the referee instantly pointing to the spot. However, the Hellas glovesman redeemed himself by saving Diamanti’s low penalty.
Evangelis Moras cleared a Salah shot away from six yards, then Greco saw a shot diverted wide for a corner.
Hellas did have one chance to nick it right at the end following a swift counter attack, with the ball falling to Obbadi 12 yards from goal, but the Moroccan sliced his shot wide.
Then just seconds later he got another chance and this time made no mistake, slotting past a helpless Neto, who had spilled a Lazaros Christodoulopoulos shot into Obbadi’s path.
The result leaves Fiorentina in sixth position in the Serie A table, one point behind Sampdoria who hold the final European qualification place, while Verona move up to 14th, level with city rivals Chievo on 36 points.
