Fiorentina come from behind to beat Rakow again & edge through in Conference League

[p]With the tie finely poised, both teams had chances to open the scoring inside the first few minutes. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kean-moise/QPclX9Uq/"]Moise Kean[/a]’s goal-bound effort was well-blocked by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/svarnas-stratos/Mgd8FcOp/"]Stratos Svarnas[/a], before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/repka-oskar/Uk6iL83g/"]Oskar Repka[/a] volleyed over from inside the box.[/p][p]Kean then produced the game’s first shot on target with a volley of his own, but he could not get clean contact on it and it was an easy save for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zych-oliwier/MPCKX5ye/"]Oliwier Zych[/a].[/p][p]The goalkeeper had to produce a better save to tip away [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fagioli-nicolo/4rFy4PRQ/"]Nicolo Fagioli[/a]’s attempt though in added time at the end of the first half.[/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="66f5df04-0ee6-43f0-bfb6-0874775b8fe6" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="33962fa0-9f1d-4447-9aea-251c8e4e29d0" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b]Despite [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fiorentina/Q3A3IbXH/"]Fiorentina[/a]’s dominance, they found themselves behind just seconds after the break – Ivi quickly threaded through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/struski-karol/MsnR68Zp/"]Karol Struski[/a], who sneaked his shot past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/christensen-oliver/6s2DQqHL/"]Oliver Christensen[/a] at his near post. [/b][/p][p]Spurred on by the sudden shock of conceding, La Viola pushed hard to get back in front in the tie, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/parisi-fabiano/Ghafo5hk/"]Fabiano Parisi[/a] – who opened the scoring in their 4-1 win against Cremonese on Monday in a Serie A relegation six-pointer – forced Zych to parry away his powerful drive.[/p][p]Also a scorer in that match, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piccoli-roberto/CK8QgVjh/"]Roberto Piccoli[/a] then saw his close-range header hit the post.[/p][p][b]Fiorentina soon scored the equaliser they had been threatening through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ndour-cher/8QRFNbb8/"]Cher Ndour[/a], who came onto Piccoli’s lay-off and, with the aid of a huge deflection, saw his strike hit the back of the net. [/b][/p][p]Parisi then almost sealed a victory on the night with a shot from range that flew just wide.[/p][p]Rakow had Zych to thank for keeping the scoreline level in the latter stages, with Fagioli the latest to force a decent save from the goalkeeper.[/p][p]In a rare attack for the makeshift hosts, a late twist saw them denied a penalty for an apparent dive in the area, while another spot-kick was waved away after Rakow players claimed a handball.[/p][p][b]It was desperate at times for Fiorentina, but after a period of survival, they capitalised on Zych coming up for a long throw-in as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pongracic-marin/OSXlKkv9/"]Marin Pongracic[/a] struck from his own half into an empty net to seal a third successive victory in all competitions. [/b][/p][p]As a result, La Viola have kept their hopes of reaching a third UECL final intact, while Rakow will rue missing the chance to make a first quarter-final in the competition, following a fourth defeat in as many H2Hs against Italian opposition.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ndour-cher/8QRFNbb8/"]Cher Ndour[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fiorentina/Q3A3IbXH/"]Fiorentina[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/fiorentina-Q3A3IbXH/rakow-SQOrbYim/?mid=WtyXmTVG"]Click here for m[/a][/b][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/fiorentina-Q3A3IbXH/rakow-SQOrbYim/?mid=WtyXmTVG"]ore on the match[/a][/b][/p][embed guid="12aa7e9d-72a0-46bb-b528-1edf0fd9c5e9" url="https://x.com/acffiorentina/status/2034718292720460249" social-type="twitter" /]