Fiorentina saw off Cittadella 2-0, despite playing for over an hour down to 10 men, and will face Atalanta in the Coppa Italia Round of 16.
It was a strong start from the Serie B outfit, forcing Pietro Terracciano into a save within the opening minute.
Dusan Vlahovic made a horrible mess of a free header at the back post, but after a save on Gaetano Castrovilli, Marco Benassi broke the deadlock by drilling low into the near bottom corner from 14 yards. Riccardo Sottil deserved much of the credit, having won back the ball near the corner flag.
Fiorentina saw off Cittadella 2-0, despite playing for over an hour down to 10 men, and will face Atalanta in the Coppa Italia Round of 16.
It was a strong start from the Serie B outfit, forcing Pietro Terracciano into a save within the opening minute.
Dusan Vlahovic made a horrible mess of a free header at the back post, but after a save on Gaetano Castrovilli, Marco Benassi broke the deadlock by drilling low into the near bottom corner from 14 yards. Riccardo Sottil deserved much of the credit, having won back the ball near the corner flag.
It all seemed to be on track for Fiorentina, but after just 26 minutes, Lorenzo Venuti tripped Zan Celar on the counter-attack just outside the box and it was considered a clear scoring opportunity, therefore a straight red card.
Roma-owned Celar was dangerous again, stinging Terracciano’s gloves, while Giuseppe Panico wasted a golden opportunity to equalise.
Despite being down to 10 men, the Viola doubled their lead with another Benassi goal, this time turning in after great work on the counter by Rachid Ghezzal.
There were more chances at both ends with saves on Vlahovic, Castrovilli and an acrobatic Ventola over-head kick, while Dalbert went off injured.
Fiorentina 2-0 Cittadella
Benassi 21, 52 (F)
Fiorentina: Terracciano; Venuti, Milenkovic, Ranieri, Dalbert (Terzic 82); Benassi, Pulgar, Castrovilli; Ghezzal (Caceres 75), Vlahovic, Sottil (Lirola 32)
Sent off: Venuti 26 (F)