After two hard-fought halves, many individuals have been already anticipating a penalty. However then El Kaabi threw himself right into a cross from the left within the penalty space and put the ball into the aim. The VAR checked for offside and ultimately awarded the aim. This was the 30-year-old’s sixteenth European Cup season.
Fiorentina certified for the Convention League within the playoffs. The crew from the capital of Tuscany beat SK Fast 2-1 in two video games on the finish of August 2023. Within the last, luck was held for the eighth place in Serie A.
The 2 groups met on equal phrases from the beginning within the AEK Athens stadium. The primary harmful conclusion to the sport got here from the Greeks. Fiorentina goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano needed to intervene when Daniel Podence (4th) shot from the sting of the penalty space. The Italians instantly held again and even briefly celebrated a aim within the tenth minute, but it surely did not rely as a result of it was offside.
After a wild opening part, the sport picked up a bit earlier than Fiorentina’s Giacomo Bonaventura was liable for a double probability within the twenty first minute: first his central shot from inside fell straightforward prey for Konstantinos Tzolakis, however just a few seconds later save the Greek keeper. One on one in opposition to the 34-year-old. Within the final part, the Moroccan El Kaabi appeared within the Violet penalty space for the primary time. The Olympiakos goalkeeper collided with Terracciano and was penalized with a foul whistle.
The second 45 minutes have been reasonably disjointed. Numerous interference or random actions and ball losses that characterize occasions on each side. The depth remained excessive – within the stands and on the sector. However no probability was price mentioning till Fiorentina’s Christian Kouamé broke free to shoot within the penalty within the 69th minute. The Ivorian did not hit the ball ideally on the within, however Tzolakis nonetheless needed to attain out and clear for a nook.
For the Greeks, Vicente Iborra (eightieth) caught a cross within the penalty space, his header nearly missed the left put up. Teammate El Kaabi (84′) additionally missed a free kick cross – the well-known “Fortunate Punch” did not work. The clock ticked down relentlessly, together with seven minutes of harm time, and the seemingly inevitable extension grew to become a certainty shortly earlier than midnight native time. On this one, Terracciano threw away a protracted shot from Stevan Jovetic (96th), and on the opposite aspect Tzolakis (a hundred and tenth) denied Jonathaniko. Then the Greek tragedy of the “Viola” occurred.