Fiorentina get the better of Tottenham
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Article summary
ACF Fiorentina 2-0 Tottenham HotspurFC
Second-half goals from Mario Gomez and Mohamed Salah were enough for Fiorentina to turn last week's 1-1 draw into a place in the last 16.
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• Tottenham edge first half but fail to take chances and lose 2-0
• Mario Gomez puts Viola in front with first goal in this season's UEFA Europa League
• Mohamed Salah doubles Fiorentina's advantage after a Jan Vertonghen slip
• Fiorentina lose Matías Fernández and José Maria Basanta to injuries
• Follow Friday's round of 16 draw on UEFA.com, with live streaming from 13.00CET
Mario Gomez and Mohamed Salah supplied the goals as ACF Fiorentina beat Tottenham Hotspur FC 2-0 to record a 3-1 round of 32 aggregate victory.
Fiorentina, who have still never lost or conceded to English opposition in five encounters at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, were hassled and harried by the visitors in the early stages. This led to a gilt-edged opportunity for Roberto Soldado, who beat the offside trap to latch onto Erik Lamela's pass. However, with just Neto to beat, the Spanish forward opted to pass to Nacer Chadli – only for his delivery to come up short.
When Fiorentina managed to break themselves, they had both Gomez and Salah working industriously, albeit – as their finishing showed – not particularly precisely. That was all set to change in the second half, though, with Milan Badelj sending Gomez through for an opportunity he was not going to waste, the 29-year-old slotting through Hugo Lloris's legs to make it advantage Fiorentina.
Salah could have wrapped things up from Gomez's ball soon after, but he did not pass up on his next opportunity, pressuring Jan Vertonghen into making a mistake and picking his spot to secure progress for Vincenzo Montella's side.