A gut-wrenching 3-2 defeat to Chelsea in midweek saw Napoli eliminated from the UEFA Champions League, with Vergara’s memorable first goal for the club not enough to see them through. That extended their winless run to three matches.
However, the Naples native put that disappointment behind him to open the scoring after just 11 minutes here, latching onto a loose ball and motoring through on goal before tucking past David de Gea.
The hosts should have doubled their advantage soon after, but an incredible goalmouth scramble in which Pietro Comuzzo went to ground to deny Rasmus Hojlund eventually ended with the defender clearing onto his own post and away at the second attempt.
At the other end, Fiorentina were agonisingly close to levelling when Nicolo Fagioli’s header from a deep free-kick delivery was impressively tipped onto the post by Alex Meret.
Just moments later, the Napoli shot-stopper produced an excellent reflex save to thwart an Albert Gudmundsson header, yet the Partenopei didn’t emerge unscathed, with captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo forced off on a stretcher to add to the growing absentee list.
The first half ended with the hosts back on top, as they had been for the majority of the period, as Hojlund flashed a strike into the side netting.
Having failed to score a first-half goal in 17 of 23 league matches this season, Fiorentina needed a response after the restart, but they soon found themselves trailing by two when Miguel Gutierrez cut inside and bent an effort beyond De Gea’s reach.
To their credit, La Viola halved the deficit just eight minutes later, thanks to Manor Solomon, who reacted sharply to turn in a rebound after Meret had saved Roberto Piccoli’s tight-angled shot in the box.
As the contest neared its conclusion, substitute Moise Kean squeezed an effort onto the post from an offside position, but that was as close as the visitors came to equalising as the defending champions battled to see out all three points.
Napoli have now won four consecutive Serie A H2Hs against Fiorentina for the first time since a run of games starting in 1988. More pertinently, the win lifts them up to third, six points shy of league leaders Inter Milan for the time being.
As for Paolo Vanoli’s side, they miss the chance to record back-to-back league wins away from home for the first time since November 2024, leaving La Viola one point from safety, having played one more game than Lecce directly above them.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Antonio Vergara (Napoli)
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