Dominant Crystal Palace thump Fiorentina by three in quarter-final first leg

[p]Both teams showed intent as they looked to gain an early advantage with so much at stake, although neither goalkeeper was initially tested, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/richards-chris/fVGFlDh2/"]Chris Richards[/a] blocked [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piccoli-roberto/CK8QgVjh/"]Roberto Piccoli[/a]’s attempt and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mateta-jean-philippe/nsFUj6GN/"]Jean-Philippe Mateta[/a] guided a header wide.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gosens-robin/r1EFsksF/"]Robin Gosens[/a] then had a major opening when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fabbian-giovanni/bkJ9njyQ/"]Giovanni Fabbian[/a] trickled through the box before finding the German, who couldn’t control the ball enough to get it on target.[/p][p]By contrast, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/guessand-evann/QXyb0B8i/"]Evann Guessand[/a] had much less time to think when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/munoz-daniel/4vZVW6Ur/"]Daniel Munoz[/a] fizzed the ball to the forward in the box, and his instinctive attempt trickled past the post.[/p][p]Guessand failed to hit the target with another shot shortly after, but he drew a challenge from Dodo that resulted in a penalty and a yellow card that will keep [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fiorentina/Q3A3IbXH/"]La Viola[/a]’s right-back out of the second leg.[/p][image alt="Key stats" id="b951750e-6ffb-4743-aa14-cb03fcacca62" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="72280e50-cb81-4947-a428-4e108185d848" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b]Though goalless since January 25th, Mateta fearlessly stepped up, sending [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-gea-david/d6AEQ6OD/"]David de Gea[/a] the wrong way with 24 minutes on the clock. [/b][/p][p][b]Mateta was denied by a superb De Gea save just seven minutes later, although [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mitchell-tyrick/tbyIjQ0h/"]Tyrick Mitchell[/a] was in position to send his follow-up past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pongracic-marin/OSXlKkv9/"]Marin Pongracic[/a] and in off the post. [/b][/p][p]And just before half-time, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/canvot-jaydee/fPUrL2AL/"]Jaydee Canvot[/a] saw a shot saved before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lacroix-maxence/j5bGWFU7/"]Maxence Lacroix[/a] sent his attempt wide.[/p][p]The hosts had shown no sign of letting up as the break approached, but they were dealt a scare shortly after the restart, with Fabbian smashing the ball against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/henderson-dean/OpFOJojt/"]Dean Henderson[/a] from a Dodo cutback.[/p][p]Daichi Kamada responded by hitting the side netting, yet there were more positive signs for the visitors, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gudmundsson-albert/bHCOu1Tl/"]Albert Gudmundsson[/a] and Piccoli bringing saves out of Henderson moments apart just before the hour mark.[/p][p]Guessand was forced off injured in a blow for the hosts, yet they prevented any damage being done to the scoreline and threatened going the other way, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sarr-ismaila/ll2uTDkB/"]Ismaila Sarr[/a] and Mateta sending a header apiece wide.[/p][embed guid="5ff8b9eb-5b73-44be-a0dc-3007bfd65dc7" url="https://x.com/CPFC/status/2042347708262863291?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]But Sarr made no mistake from Kamada’s 91st-minute cross, heading the ball into the floor and into the top corner to make [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/crystal-palace/AovF1Mia/"]Palace[/a]'s aggregate cushion look far more robust.[/b][/p][p]That could prove to be a vital moment in the tie, and it put the proverbial icing on Palace’s fifth consecutive match unbeaten - also their first 90-minute win in four attempts - and put the Eagles in a commanding position ahead of the second leg at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.[/p][p]Meanwhile, it’s a first defeat in seven across all competitions for Fiorentina, who now face an uphill battle to avoid yet more UECL heartbreak.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kamada-daichi/bayITLyE/"]Daichi Kamada[/a] (Crystal Palace)[/b][/p][image alt="Player ratings" id="e3dd214c-b879-425a-a935-acae66747b41" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="4f9c29a8-1e47-4b13-b1fa-12950968d5ce" original-width="1920" original-height="1280" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/crystal-palace-AovF1Mia/fiorentina-Q3A3IbXH/summary/stats/?mid=v3U4iQN9"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]