Fiorentina sealed a valuable 3-1 win away at Palermo on Wednesday afternoon.
Palermo came into the fixture having not beaten a current top 11 side this season and this looked set to continue against the league’s top scorers.
Fiorentina started off in commanding fashion, coolly keeping possession with their opponents looking to press aggressively.
The away side should have taken the lead as early as the 10th minute when Nikola Kalinic latched onto an inch- perfect square ball from Borja Valero but the Palermo ‘keeper Stefano Sorrentino came out well to force a rather limp effort from the Croat, which trickled harmlessly wide.
The Viola did take the lead just three minutes later, when Josip Ilicic subtly beat his defender before calmly slotting underneath the onrushing Sorrentino, the ball nestling inside the bottom right hand corner.
With the goal advantage, the Viola looked to stroke the ball around with deep runners playing off the very capable Kalinic.
Sorrentino was in action throughout the first half, particularly when producing a fine save which kept out a 20-yard effort from Matias Vecino looking destined for the net.
The ‘keeper was powerless though when in the 42nd minute, Ilicic scored his and Fiorentina’s second, a sublime curled left footed strike from the edge of the box.
The home side showed little ambition in the first half and this looked set to continue with them happy to let the visitors monopolise possession. They did however look to flood the midfield, further isolating both Aleksandar Trajkovski or Franco Vazquez.
Palermo were limited to long shots with Ciprian Tatarusanu watching them sail over his bar.
With the introduction of Alberto Gilardino the Rosanero looked to cross the ball into the box and in the 60th minute, Gilardino missed their best opportunity, failing to connect with the ball six yards out.
Gilardino did snatch a goal back though in the 77th minute after good work on the right wing led to Vazquez chipping in a weighted pass for Gilardino to head in smartly at the near post.
This rallied the home side and after Fiorentina looked to reassert their dominance, the game became frenetic and clumsy with both looking to counter quickly.
With the hosts pushing for an equaliser substitute Jakub Blaszczykowski beat the offside trap and slotted the ball home to make the score 3-1 in injury time.
The result leaves Palermo in 16th, and sends Fiorentina temporarily top of the table with Inter playing later today.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com