Fiorentina beat Lech Poznan 2-0 in their Europa League clash at the Stadion Miejski on Thursday evening.
The Viola took the lead late on in the first half through a stunning Josip Ilicic free kick before the Slovenian scored a second goal 10 minutes from time to secure all three points and fire his side to second place in Group I
Fiorentina took command of the game straight from the opening whistle, pegging the home side back in their own half with Matias Fernandez and Matias Vecino acting as the driving force in the visitors’ midfield.
With Poznan stuck deep in their own half blue-shirted bodies began to line up at the edge of the penalty area, proving a tough force for the Viola to breakthrough.
Limited to balls over the top and long-range drives, the visitors became frustrated and almost conceded against the run of play. Winger Federico Bernardeschi gave away a careless foul outside his own area, allowing Marcin Kaminski to send in a vicious follow-up to the resulting set piece; though keeper Luigi Sepe was able to throw his body in front of the ball.
After countless chances Paulo Sousa’s men finally found the net with a free kick of their own, five minutes from the end of the first half.
Josip Ilicic stepped up to strike the ball after Giuseppe Rossi was brought down 25-yards out, and did so neatly by curling the ball into the top right corner.
The second half was a much more open affair, as Poznan abandoned the defensive tactics in favour of finding an equalising goal, though Fiorentina refused to ease up on the pressure.
Rossi had several chances to double his side’s lead though the Italian lacked the final touch, whilst Szymon Pawlowski squandered a golden chance to fire the hosts back into the game.
As a result Fiorentina were able to capitalise play once more, with Ilicic delivering the killing blow in the final minutes as the Slovenian international latched onto a pass from Fernandez and buried the ball past Jasmin Buric.
