Conference League: Barak at last gasp, Fiorentina beats Maccabi Haifa in comeback
Conference League, first round of 16: Maccabi Haifa-Fiorentina 3-4
A Fiorentina team that was as effective in attack as it was inaccurate in defense emerged with a precious 4-3 victory, with a decisive goal by Barak in 95', from the Conference League round of 16 played againstMaccabi Haifa on the neutral at the Bozsik Stadion in Budapest. In the return match, in Florence next Thursday, there will be two results for the Viola to advance to the quarters, a win and a draw.
First half: good start, then Maccabi emerges
The start looks decidedly promising for Vincenzo Italiano’s men: after 2' in fact, the goal of the lead arrives and to score it è the revived M'Bala Nzola, who scores a header for a goal that, on a personal level, had been missing since last January 14 (Fiorentina-Udinese 2-2 league).
The rest of the first half è forò nightmarish for the Viola, this evening on the field in a white jersey: in fact, at 12' came the 1-1 scored by Seck, good at beating Terracciano from close range, while at minute 29 there'è the 2-1 for the Israelis, scored by Kinda who took advantage of an uncertainty in marking by Kayode to diagonally beat the lily-white goalkeeper.
The resumption: everything happens in Budapest
In the resumption, Italiano trusted the same eleven sent on the field from 1' and the players on the field responded positively: at 59', in fact, Beltran signed the 2-2, making the most of Nzola's assist and the lack of pressure from the players of the formally "host" team. Maccabi’s counter-response is worth forò the 3-2, at 67': great play byKhalaili on the right, the young Israeli (class of 2004) unloads an impenetrable diagonal for Terracciano.
Fiorentina, however, did not give up and in minute 73 scored the equalizing goal: Biraghi’s low cross reached Mandragora, who right-footed guessed the right angle and beat the opponent’s goalkeeper. Only after this goal come the first moves of Italiano, who chooses Bonaventura and Belotti taking over Duncan and Nzola at 75'.
In the final, the match gets nervous: Show, Maccabi’s Angolan midfielder already cautioned on 3-2, intervenes late on Bonaventura and gets himself sent off at 81' for double yellow, on the other side Kayode gets himself cautioned for a hold against Pierrot. A minute later Barak enters for Mandragora, and è the decisive change: at minute 95, when everything seems to suggest that the match will end in parity, the Czech unloads a left-footed shot from the limit that does not find Kaiuf ready and it goes into the box. The triple whistle came shortly afterwards: the Viola won 4-3 and could breathe a big sigh of relief given how the match seemed to have turned out before the final 20 minutes.
Conference League, the results of the other round of 16
These are the results of the other Conference League matches, all played on Thursday: Ajax-Aston Villa 0-0; Molde-Club Brugge 2-1 (Stenevik, Gulbrandsen; penalty. De Cuyper); Olympiacos-Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-4 (El Kaabi; Zahavi 2, Shahar, Peretz); Sturm Graz-Lille 0-3 (David 2, Zhegrova); Dinamo Zagreb-PAOK 2-0 (Petkovic 2); Royale Union Saint Gilloise-Fenerbahce 0-3 (Batshuayi, Oosterwolde, rig. Tadic); Servette-Viktoria Plzen 0-0.
