UECL | Fiorentina 2-1 Dynamo Kyiv: Gudmndsson secures first win in 10

Fiorentina were able to put their Serie A misfortunes behind them to claim their third Conference League victory of the campaign with a 2-1 win at home against Dynamo Kyiv on Thursday evening: Moise Kean, Mykola Mykhaylenko and Albert Gudmundsson with the goals.

Paolo Vanoli and his Viola side were nine games without a win across all competitions ahead of kick-off. He turned to Edin Dzeko to partner Kean at centre-forward, the Bosnian also taking the captain’s armband in the absence of Luca Ranieri. There were also wholesale changes in midfield, with Amir Richardson, Hans Nicolussi Caviglia and Cher Ndour coming in to start. 

Click here to see how the action unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.

Fiorentina had their fair share of chances in the opening quarter: Dzeko rose well in the area after six minutes but wasn’t quite able to keep his header under the bar. 

The hosts couldn’t believe they hadn’t scored 17 minutes in when Dzeko was allowed to fire off a powerful half-volley in the area following a corner. His effort looked goal-bound but was accidentally blocked by Kean on the edge of the six-yard box. The Italian then saw his shot saved by the feet of goalkeeper Ruslan Neshcheret. 

Fiorentina would find the lead a minute later. It was a centre-forward’s dream for Kean, who was unmarked in the area and just had to time his jump and aim his header in the right direction after a perfect delivery in from the right flank from Dodo. 

It took a second-half screamer for Dynamo Kyiv to draw level. Mykhaylenko, afforded slightly too much time from 25 yards out, unleashed a thunderbolt which rocketed past David De Gea and into the right-hand corner of the net. 

It was Vanoli’s second-half substitutions that got him out of trouble this evening: He made three of them two thirds of the way through, Gudmundsson, Christian Kouame and Fabiano all introduced. 

Gudmundsson’s impact was immediate. He had three shots within the space of a few minutes before putting La Viola back into the lead. 

Kean steered Parisi’s cross on goal, drawing a fantastic save out of Neshcheret, but the keeper was still on the floor when the Icelander popped up in the middle of the area to poke home the rebound. 

Fiorentina should have put the game beyond any doubt with two minutes of regular time left to play, but Kean’s shot found the goalkeeper’s legs when he burst into the area almost one-on-one.

This evening’s result temporarily sends Fiorentina up to seventh place in the Conference League standings, albeit with the majority of this week’s fixtures still left to play.

Fiorentina 2-1 Dynamo Kyiv

Kean (F) 18’, Mykhaylenko (D) 55’, Gudmundsson (F) 74’.