Fiorentina gets what it wanted for Christmas, its first Serie A win of the season
Beleaguered Fiorentina finally got its first Serie A win of the season after its opponent played nearly the entire match with 10 men.
Fiorentina eased to a 5-1 victory at home to Udinese, which had goalkeeper Maduka Okoye sent off with less than eight minutes on the clock.
It was Fiorentina's first win in 16 league matches and saw the last-placed team cut the gap to safety to five points.
Midtable Udinese beat defending Serie A champion Napoli last weekend.
However, the visitors got off to the worst possible start as Okoye came rushing out of the penalty area and clattered into Moise Kean who was clear through on goal. The stopper, who also touched the ball with his arm, was shown a straight red card.
Fiorentina took the lead in the 21st minute when Nicolò Fagioli tapped a free kick towards Rolando Mandragora, who fired a low shot underneath Udinese's replacement goalkeeper Răzvan Sava.
Albert Guðmundsson's fine strike and Cher Ndour's header put Fiorentina comfortably ahead at halftime.
Kean scored twice after the break, either side of Oumar Solet's consolation goal for Udinese.
An even earlier red
Atalanta managed to snatch a 1-0 victory against 10-man Genoa, which saw red in very similar circumstances to Udinese.
Genoa goalkeeper Nicola Leali was sent off in the third minute for a foul on Atalanta forward Gianluca Scamacca.
Atalanta, as expected, dominated possession but Genoa — which looked far more dangerous with its chances — remarkably appeared to have held on for a draw before Isak Hien headed in a corner in the fourth minute of stoppages.
United States midfielder Yunus Musah made his first Serie A start for Atalanta since the second round on Aug. 29.
Genoa remained two points above safety.
Safety hopes
A last-gasp equalizer from Stefano Moreo saw Pisa snatch a 2-2 draw at Cagliari.
Pisa inched to within three points of safety. Cagliari was left three points above the relegation zone.
Elsewhere, Torino won 1-0 at Sassuolo.
