Serie A: Fiorentina 1-0 Lecce – Gosens just enough for Viola | OneFootball

Fiorentina picked up a 1-0 victory over Lecce in Serie A on Friday evening thanks to Robin Gosens’s early opener, but the Viola missed an opportunity to put the game to bed with a missed penalty from Lucas Beltran midway through the second half.

There was no Moise Kean in the Fiorentina squad, as he continues to recover from a nasty head injury suffered during the 1-0 loss against Hellas Verona on Sunday. Raffaele Palladino switched to a 3-5-2 and named Beltran and Nicolo Zaniolo up front instead.

There was also a Serie A debut for Italy U21 star Cher Ndour in midfield, and a full Viola debut for Pablo Mari at centre-back.

See how the action unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.

It was all Fiorentina early on: Gosens burst forwards and tried a low cross in from the left within the first minute, Zaniolo also tried from an early attack two minutes in.

The German would provide the Fiorentina advantage with less than 10 minutes gone. Dodo showed an excellent turn of pace on the right flank to reach the byline, where he stood up a cross for his fellow wing-back to nod in at the back post for 1-0.

FLORENCE, ITALY – FEBRUARY 28: Robin Gosens of ACF Fiorentina in action during the Serie A match between Fiorentina and Lecce at Stadio Artemio Franchi on February 28, 2025 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)

There were suggestions that Beltran should have been sent off for a second bookable offence on Balthazar Pierret, but play was allowed to continue for a Lecce advantage, and the VAR is not able to intervene on a yellow card offence, so the Argentine escaped without further punishment.

Fiorentina looked to start the second half in the same way they did the first: With a Dodo cross in from the left for one of his teammates in the middle, but Beltran headed just over from the centre of the area.

La Viola had the opportunity to put the game to bed via the penalty spot after a double combination from Gosens and Nicolo Fagioli.

The pair combined to win a corner, Fagioli delivered, Gosens flicked it on and struck the raised arm of Pierret in the area. Beltran stepped up, sent Falcone the wrong way, but hit the right post and watched on as the ball rebounded out of the area.

FLORENCE, ITALY – FEBRUARY 28: Marin Pongracic of ACF Fiorentina in action during the Serie A match between Fiorentina and Lecce at Stadio Artemio Franchi on February 28, 2025 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)

Beltran struck the crossbar with a few minutes of regular time remaining, following a Fiorentina free-kick which was taken short from the byline.

Lecce immediately broke on the counter attack and Danilo Veiga, who had come on just before the Viola free-kick, was sent through one-on-one with David De Gea, but couldn’t quite bend his effort on target, firing wide of the post from 10 yards out.

Tonight’s result puts Fiorentina up to sixth place in the Serie A table, but they could still be overtaken by Bologna depending on results later on this weekend.

Fiorentina 1-0 Lecce

Gosens 9’ (F).