Giuseppe Rossi made his comeback with an assist as Fiorentina beat Serie A new boys Carpi 2-0 in a friendly.
Pepito hadn’t set foot on the field during a game since May 18 2014, ruled out for over a year by knee injuries.
He came on during the final 25 minutes of today’s friendly with Carpi and made an immediate impact.
He provided the assist for Borja Valero to chip the goalkeeper, then went close to a splendid goal himself, firing his volley just over the bar.
Giuseppe Rossi made his comeback with an assist as Fiorentina beat Serie A new boys Carpi 2-0 in a friendly.
Pepito hadn’t set foot on the field during a game since May 18 2014, ruled out for over a year by knee injuries.
He came on during the final 25 minutes of today’s friendly with Carpi and made an immediate impact.
He provided the assist for Borja Valero to chip the goalkeeper, then went close to a splendid goal himself, firing his volley just over the bar.
It had been a sluggish first half, lightened only by Matias Vecino thumping the upright from the edge of the box.
Mario Gomez also rattled the woodwork after Gonzalo Rodriguez sprinted from his own half to set up the German in front of an open goal.
Gomez made another huge error from Josip Ilicic’s assist, sparking jeers from the Fiorentina fans.
Ilicic eventually opened the scoring with a free kick that took a decisive deflection off the wall.
Fiorentina 2-0 Carpi
Scorers: Ilicic 50 (F), Borja Valero 79 (F)
Fiorentina: Tatarusanu (Sepe 46); Gonzalo Rodriguez (Tomovic 46), Camporese (Basanta 46), Savic (Bagadur 46); Joaquin (Alonso 46), Vecino (Badelj 46), Hegazy (Capezzi 46), Diakhatè (Borja Valero 46), Pasqual (Bernardeschi 46); Ilicic (Rossi 66), Gomez (Fazzi 46)
Carpi: Benussi; Poli, Romagnoli, Gagliolo, Letizia; Bianco, Marrone, Lollo; Pasciuti, Wilczek, Matos