Fiorentina Rises to Beat Parma and Qualifies for Coppa Italia Quarter Finals

Fiorentina's players face penalties against Parma in Coppa Italia. (Twitter @ACFFiorentinaEN)

JAKARTA - Fiorentina had to work hard to eliminate Serie B team Parma 4-1 (2-2) via penalty shootout in the last 16 of the Coppa Italia at the Artemio Franchi Stadium, Thursday, December 7 early morning of Western Indonesian Time (WIB). Fiorentina advances to the quarter-finals to face Inter Milan or Bologna.

Parma, who is currently competing in the second caste, is still not an easy opponent for Fiorentina. Moreover, Parma has been around in the Italian Serie A.

Not only that, Parma, which once had top players such as goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Hernan Crespo, Dino Baggio, Gianfranco Zola and Lilian Thuram, is currently at the top of the Serie B standings. They also have the opportunity to return to Serie A.

This shows that Fiorentina cannot underestimate Parma's strength. I Gialloblu even took the lead first. Unfortunately, they were not consistent so Fiorentina was able to turn things around.

In that match, Parma, who played at home, showed a surprising performance. They played very well attacking, making it difficult for the home defense.

Parma managed to take the lead after Adrian Bernabe broke the deadlock in the 21st minute. This was Bernabe's third attempt after two attempts at the opponent's goal failed.

Parma is increasingly aggressive in attacking Fiorentina's defense. It didn't take long for them to increase their lead. Only two minutes later, Parma added a goal through Ange-Yoan Bonny.

The goal started from a mistake by Yerry Mina who gave a weak pass to Michael Kayode. Valentin Mihaila grabbed the ball and then gave it to Bonny.

Bonny finished Mihaila's cross to change the score to 2-0. This lasted until the first half ended.

In the second half, Fiorentina tried to get back up. But their efforts never bore fruit. Parma's strong defense, which tried to secure their lead, made it difficult for the hosts to score.

Their patience finally paid off when the match entered the final 10 minutes. Striker M'Bala Nzola reduced the deficit after completing an assist from Riccardo Sottil in the 83rd minute.

This goal pumped up the enthusiasm of the La Viola players to equalize the score. They also played offensively in order to score one more goal to extend their breath.

Fiorentina's efforts were not in vain. This time, it was Sottil who made the tifosi cheer after breaking into Parma's goal from the penalty spot in the 89th minute.

A penalty was awarded to Fiorentina after Gino Infantino's header hit defender Yordan Osorio's arm. The referee pointed to the spot and Sottil completed the execution. The score changed to 2-2 and the match was finally finished in extra time.

No goals were scored for 15x2 minutes so the match continued with a penalty shootout.

This time, it was Fiorentina who won mentally and looked calm when executing the penalty.

It was proven that four Fiorentina kickers successfully completed their task. On the other hand, two Parma players, Dennis Man and Drissa Camara, failed to execute.

Fiorentina did not take the fifth kick because they were already leading 4-1. Fiorentina also qualified for the quarter-finals.