Rate it!

1 votes

Fiorentina won a seven-goal thriller 5-2 at home to Debrecen to boost their hopes of progression from Champions League Group E and end the Hungarians' bid for the last 16.

Adrian Mutu's opener was equalised by Gergely Rudolf in the first half only for Dario Dainelli, Riccardo Montolivo and Marco Marchionni to establish a three-goal lead after the break for La Viola.

Amado Coulibaly pulled one back but Alberto Gilardino pounced minutes later to finish off the scoring.

The Italians started brightly and deservedly took the lead after 13 minutes. Manuel Pasqual's right-wing cross found former Chelsea striker Mutu in acres of space and he headed past Djordje Pantic in the Debrecen goal. 

To their credit, the Hungarians battled away and equalised against the run of play on 37 minutes. Luis Ramos broke down the left and crossed superbly for Rudolf to steal in behind the Fiorentina defence and knock the ball past Vlada Avramov.

Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli clearly had some harsh words with his team during the half-time interval because the Italians came out firing in the second period. A magical 10-minute spell all but killed off a spirited Debrecen side who never gave up.

Dainelli made it 2-1 with a header from a free-kick after 52 minutes before two quickfire goals - first from Montolivo in the 59th minute then Marchionni in the 61st - pushed Fiorentina into a 4-1 lead.

Not to be outdone, Debrecen took advantage of some lax play by the home side and pulled one back through substitute Coulibaly after 70 minutes, heading past Avramov from a Laslo Bodnar cross.

However the Italians were destined to have the last laugh, man-of-the-match Gilardino heading in Juan Vargas's free-kick from the right after 74 minutes.

It was the second time in a fortnight that the sides have shared a seven-goal thriller, although Fiorentina had a bit more breathing space this time around after their 4-3 win in Hungary.

La Viola have now won their last three Group E games while it is the end of the Champions League road for Debrecen - and they have it all to do if they are to qualify for the Europa League.

Jonathan Crane / Eurosport