AAP Soccer

Fiorentina miss their chance as Udinese storm back

By AAP Newswire

Dec 24, 2024

Florain Thauvin — Udinese's Florian Thauvin (C) celebrates after scoring his side's winner against Fiorentina -AP

Fiorentina have missed a chance to go fourth in Serie A after conceding two second-half goals to lose 2-1 at home to Udinese.

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The Florence club won a record eight consecutive Serie A games before losing to Bologna 1-0 on December 15, and looked to be back on track when Moises Kean converted a penalty after just eight minutes.

Kean became the first Fiorentina player to reach double figures in the league since Federico Chiesa in the 2019-20 season.

However, Udinese were a different prospect after the break.

Lorenzo Lucca equalised with the aid of sloppy defending four minutes into the second half and then Florian Thauvin found space on the edge of the box to curl in the second eight minutes later.

The result left Udinese in ninth place and Fiorentina in fifth.

The match was a special one for Edoardo Bove, the Fiorentina player whose collapse with a heart issue led to the suspension of the game with Inter Milan on December 1.

Bove was fitted with a defibrillator implant soon after and sat on the Fiorentina bench for the first time since his collapse.

He is not allowed to play but his position on the sideline alongside coach Raffaele Palladino was seen as a step towards normality for the 22-year-old midfielder.