A last-gasp Juan Manuel Vargas free kick gave Fiorentina a crucial away victory in the race for Champions League spots.

Cesare Prandelli had never won at the Stadio Friuli in his career and had to make do with a shoe-string squad. Dario Dainelli was suspended with Adrian Mutu, Alessandro Gamberini, Stevan Jovetic and Cristiano Zanetti injured. Udinese also had key players missing, as Christian Obodo, Damiano Ferronetti, Mauricio Isla and Antonio Floro Flores were out of action.

The Viola were boosted by their 5-2 thrashing of Debrecen in the Champions League midweek, putting them in a strong position to qualify, but had lost two of their previous three Serie A games.

Basta returned from a ban and almost scored an own goal after two minutes, his header thumping the bar and the Alberto Gilardino follow-up was scrambled off the line by Samir Handanovic.

Antonio Di Natale's diving header from a Gaetano D'Agostino ball over the top was somewhere between an effort on goal and an assist.

Francesco Lodi's snapshot whistled inches wide of the upright with the aid of a slight deflection. Juan Manuel Vargas also skimmed the target from the D.

Udinese lost Simone Pepe to a thigh injury that probably means he'll miss the Italy friendlies next week too. Fiorentina also saw Santana limp off with a thigh problem and in the second half Lorenzo De Silvestri hurt his ankle.

Handanovic smothered a Vargas effort and Gaetano D'Agostino also picked up an injury.

Fiorentina broke the deadlock in the final minutes. A Vargas free kick from the right took a glancing touch off Pasquale's head and flashed past everyone to settle in at the far corner.

Di Natale was booked for dissent and will be suspended for Udinese's next game with Juventus. His match wasn't over here yet and he almost score the goal of the season, acrobatically flicking the ball with his heel from six yards to force a stunning save out of Frey.