Fiorentina began their UEFA Conference League (UECL) campaign with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Sigma Olomouc, who are now winless in all six of their matches against Italian opposition (D1, L5).
Stefano Pioli’s side created their first chance when Edin Dzeko’s close-range header was saved after Sigma failed to deal with Nicolo Fagioli’s set-piece.
Down the other end, the UECL debutants were looking to spring a surprise, and almost netted in emphatic fashion when David Tkac’s speculative long-range effort was parried to safety by David de Gea.
It was the hosts that struck first, though, as European debutant Roberto Piccoli - who was aiming for his first Viola goal - produced a cool right-footed finish inside the far post after Cher Ndour’s header played him one-on-one with Jan Koutny.
Piccoli nearly added a second moments later, but his sweeping first-time strike from Dodo’s cross went just wide.
Rolando Mandragora came even closer to doubling the hosts’ lead when his looping effort cannoned off the bar, before Dodo's conversion on the rebound was ruled out for offside.
Chances continued to flow for the Serie A side, as Ndour turned in the box and fired wide from Luca Ranieri’s cross in a fruitful first half for Pioli’s men.
Tomas Janotka’s side continued to look lively after the restart, with both Tihomir Kostadinov and Michal Beran forcing De Gea into action.
Piccoli was then thwarted by some fine defending from Abdoulaye Sylla that took the sting out of his shot from a one-on-one situation, but the Viola were looking anything but convincing at the back by contrast, and Marin Pongracic’s blind pass was intercepted by Ahmad Ghali, whose shot was saved by De Gea to spare the Croatian’s blushes.
Jacopo Fazzini was next to try and put the game to bed for the hosts, as he expertly weaved his way through the Sigma defence before his deflected effort went wide.
Ultimately, though, Ndour would add a second with a clinical strike that clipped in off the post to put the seal on three morale-boosting UECL points after what has been a sobering start to the Serie A campaign (D3, L2).
Meanwhile, despite their loss, this was a promising UECL debut for Sigma, but the Czech side will be concerned after seeing their winless run extend to five games (D2, L3).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Cher Ndour (Fiorentina)