David De Gea made a series of crucial saves during the match, and especially in the penalty shoot-out, as nine-man Fiorentina narrowly overcame Puskas Akademia to secure their place in the Conference League.
The draw for the competition’s group stage is set for Monaco on Friday, August 30.
After a chaotic 3-3 draw in the first leg, the tie was decided in a winner-takes-all match at the Pancho Arena in Felcsut, with away goals no longer counting double. The Fiorentina lineup saw Dodo, Cristiano Biraghi, Amir Richardson, and Moise Kean start, but the team was struggling after recent Serie A draws against Parma and Venezia. Under the guidance of new coach Raffaele Palladino, the Viola had reached the Conference League Final in the previous two years.
A minute’s silence was observed before the match in memory of Sven-Goran Eriksson, who managed Fiorentina from 1987 to 1989.
Marin Pongracic’s careless play from the back led to his fourth yellow card in three matches, and another mistake forced De Gea into a crucial save against Urho Nissila. Kean’s ball across the six-yard box missed everyone, but De Gea pulled off an incredible save at the back post to deny Jakov Pujic, following mistakes by Sofyan Amrabat and Pongracic. Pujic’s shot from the resulting corner was blocked, but not by hand.
Dodo nearly caused disaster with an ill-advised back-heel flick in his own penalty area, but Fiorentina managed to escape unscathed.
The second half saw Wojciech Golla’s header from a Nissila free kick graze the crossbar. Shortly after, a combination of De Gea and the crossbar denied Jakub Plsek from close range. Christian Kouame’s shot from outside the box provided a much-needed spark for Fiorentina.
Kean made the difference with a superb goal, turning Golla and other defenders before firing into the near bottom corner. Despite a shaky performance overall, it was a crucial moment of quality for the Tuscans.
Dodo’s earlier mistake was forgiven when he was deemed offside during a counter-attack involving Andrea Colpani and Kean.
In stoppage time, Hungarian penalty appeals were denied as a double ricochet struck Richardson’s arm. A penalty was later awarded for a shirt pull by Luca Ranieri on Lamin Colley, who also received a second yellow card. Zsolt Nagy converted the penalty to force extra time against 10 men.
Fiorentina was reduced to nine men just seven minutes into extra time when Pietro Comuzzo received a second yellow card for a shirt tug on Colley. De Gea saved Artem Favorov’s free kick and a powerful shot from Nagy, while Cristiano Biraghi’s free kick went just over, and Colpani’s volley was saved by De Gea.
Gyorgy Komaromi’s header skimmed the post, and nine-man Fiorentina held on for a penalty shoot-out. De Gea made a one-handed save against captain Roland Szolnoki, and Biraghi scored the decisive penalty to send Fiorentina through.
David De Gea
David de Gea Quintana
SpainThis season he played in total twice for 210 minutes for Europa Conference League.
He made 10 saves and conceded 4 goals. He received no yellow cards and no red cards.
His team is currently 12th in Europa Conference League. In the last match Fiorentina drew 0-0 against Venezia. The next match in Europa Conference League will be against Monza.
Fiorentina performance and stats
