Marauding Mutu makes his mark

Adrian Mutu told uefa.com he is delighted to be over a niggling knee problem and concentrating on prolonging ACF Fiorentina's UEFA Champions League adventure after having a hand in all four Viola strikes as his side triumphed by the odd goal in seven against Debreceni VSC in Budapest.

'Powerful skills'
"Of course, I'm happy. I'm happy because we won, I'm also happy because I'm back to full fitness, which is the most important thing for me," said the 30-year-old forward. Mutu scored twice with excellent finishes, laid one on a plate for strike partner Alberto Gilardino, and had a shot saved from which Mario Santana slid in Fiorentina's fourth, and ultimately decisive, goal. Gilardino also set up one of Mutu's double, and the Romanian now feels their partnership is blossoming: "We showed some powerful skills on the field. It's good because we're getting along together so let's keep it going like that."

Attacking threat
Fiorentina goalkeeper Sébastien Frey hailed Mutu's display. "He was very good," said the Frenchman. "We're very happy for him because he's gone through a difficult time of late. He has trained hard and he was very focused. Having Mutu, Gilardino and [Stevan] Jovetić up front is a massive advantage for us. We've got three great forwards, which means we can rotate them when necessary."

Leaders Lyon
Having recently gone 428 minutes without conceding in all competitions, Frey picked the ball out of the back of his net three times and says he does not expect the return match in Florence on 4 November to be as open. He also expressed his surprise at Olympique Lyonnais' 2-1 win at Liverpool FC, maintaining the French club's three-point advantage over Fiorentina at the Group E summit. "I wasn't expecting it. Our direct rivals now are Liverpool and we'll be doing everything we can to go through."

'Beautiful goal'
Of the three goals that went past Frey, the second scored by Hungarian international forward Gergely Rudolf was by far the best. Of his curling strike from an acute angle, Rudolf told uefa.com: "It's one of the most beautiful goals of my career. Obviously all goals are beautiful but against a team like that it's always worth more. We're getting better as a team. We scored goals – and we hadn't done that against teams at this level – and now we have to get some points and try to win a game. "