Serie A: Fiorentina Boost European Hopes with Narrow Victory Over Genoa

Fiorentina secured a crucial 2-1 victory over Genoa, thanks to Moise Kean's stunning acrobatic volley and Albert Gudmundsson's strike, boosting their European hopes.

Fiorentina secured a crucial victory over Genoa, thanks to Moise Kean's stunning acrobatic volley and Albert Gudmundsson's goal against his former club. This morale-boosting win came on the heels of Fiorentina's 2-1 triumph over Lazio, which ended their crisis.

However, Fiorentina faced several challenges, including the suspension of Yacine Adli and coach Raffaele Palladino. The team was also without Danilo Cataldi, new signing Pablo Mari, and Edoardo Bove due to injuries. Meanwhile, Albert Gudmundsson lined up against his former club, Genoa.

Fiorentina get the home win over Genoa 🏠#FiorentinaGenoa pic.twitter.com/45c6XZyZmk

— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) February 2, 2025

Genoa, managed by Patrick Vieira, had their own share of absentees, including Mattia Bani, Alessandro Zanoli, Ruslan Malinovskyi, and Honest Ahanor. Mario Balotelli continued to be frozen out of the team.

The match got off to a contentious start, with Dodo going down after Morten Frendrup appeared to grab a handful of his jersey. However, following a VAR On-Field Review, the referee surprisingly awarded the foul against Dodo.

Fiorentina eventually broke the deadlock in spectacular fashion, courtesy of Moise Kean's incredible acrobatic volley. Rolando Mandragora's free kick was expertly stood up, and Kean waited for the ball to drop over his shoulder before scoring with a breathtaking flick off the outside of his right boot from 10 yards out.

Albert Gudmundsson, facing his former club, doubled Fiorentina's lead with a well-crafted goal. Robin Gosens' roll across the box found Gudmundsson, who expertly controlled the ball with the inside of his right boot before unleashing a left-footed shot that was aided by a slight deflection.

Genoa squandered a golden opportunity to pull one back when Maxwell Cornet was sent through by Morten Thorsby. However, with David De Gea rushing out, Cornet ballooned his left-footed shot over the bar, wasting a clear scoring chance.

The start of the second half was delayed due to an injury to one of the assistant referees, who was replaced by fourth official Santoro. The brief interruption seemed to rejuvenate Genoa, as they began to push forward in search of a goal.

Genoa finally got back into the game when Koni De Winter was allowed a free header from six yards out on an Aaron Martin corner kick. The visitors continued to pour forward, but they risked conceding again at the other end. Johan Vasquez made a crucial clearance, heading Dodo's effort off the line after Nicola Leali struggled to deal with a Gosens cross.

In a thrilling conclusion, Genoa almost scored a replica of their first goal when De Winter had another free header on Martin's corner. However, this time David De Gea made a desperate one-handed reaction save to secure the victory for Fiorentina.