Fiorentina's Champions League hopes dwindle with loss to Hellas Verona
Fiorentina's faint Champions League hopes were all but extinguished as Mounir Obbadi secured a late 1-0 win for Hellas Verona at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Monday.
The Viola, who remain nine points behind third-placed Roma having played their game in hand, controlled much of the match but failed to create enough chances, with Alessandro Diamanti's missed penalty in the second half proving crucial.
Verona goalkeeper Rafael guessed correctly to save the spot-kick low to his left and that proved a catalyst to spur the visitors on, with Obbadi nipping in to secure the win in the 90th minute from close range.
Verona are now seven points clear of the drop zone and up to 14th, with Serie A survival looking pretty secure.
Fiorentina might have had it all to play for in front of their own fans, but it was Verona who came closest to taking a shock early lead.
Bosko Jankovic was left totally unmarked from Leonardo Greco's corner after three minutes as Fiorentina's rearguard were pre-occupied with their lively former colleague Luca Toni.
The golden opportunity perhaps caught the Serbian unaware at the far post, though, and he could only cushion the free header tamely into the midriff of Fiorentina keeper Neto.
Goalmouth action was at a premium thereafter, with the Viola dominating possession but Andrea Mandorlini's disciplined side were quite happy to sit deep and make things difficult.
Out of necessity the hosts resorted to long-range shots and almost had some joy, with Diamanti and Andrea Lazzari both seeing drives from distance deflected wide off Verona midfielder Jacopo Sala.
Diamanti could have considered himself unfortunate that time, but he wasted a free-kick opportunity from just outside the area around the half-hour mark. The former West Ham midfielder ballooned the effort high and wide.
Mandorlini's side showed more endeavour on the counter-attack after the interval, but this added danger failed to provide any more openings for the hosts at the other end.
So when the referee pointed to the spot in the 65th minute for a foul on Alberto Gilardino by Verona keeper Rafael it was met with loud cheers of relief from the Viola faithful.
It was a soft backwards header from Jankovic that created the danger, forcing Rafael to race out and challenge the Viola forward. The Verona keeper was perhaps fortunate Gilardino was angling his run away from goal, meaning the card that came out of the referee's pocket was yellow, not red.
Up stepped Diamanti, but Rafael got down brilliantly to his left to deny the 31-year-old.
Verona continued to grow in stature as Fiorentina ran out of ideas and they deservedly took a valuable three points when Obbadi was on hand to toe-poke home when Neto failed to gather Lazaros Christodoulopoulos' driven effort in the final minute.
