Real Betis will head to Florence with a slender advantage after edging Fiorentina 2-1 in a closely contested UEFA Conference League semi-final first leg in Seville.
Under Manuel Pellegrini’s guidance, the Spanish side once again showed their habit of striking early in this competition, having now netted first in 11 of their last 12 UECL outings.
The hosts flew out of the blocks with an intensity that caught the visitors off guard. A long ball into the channel found Cedric Bakambu, who muscled past Pietro Comuzzo before teeing up Abde Ezzalzouli.
The Moroccan attacker looked certain to score, but he rattled the underside of the crossbar from close range.
Confusion reigned briefly due to a delay with the goal-line technology, before referee Michael Oliver signalled that the ball had crossed the line – giving Betis the early breakthrough they sought.
With the Estadio Benito Villamarín rocking, Betis nearly doubled their advantage as Isco bent an effort just past David de Gea’s post.
Fiorentina, however, gradually began to find their rhythm, with Rolando Mandragora glancing a header narrowly wide. Just before the interval, Marc Bartra spurned a golden chance to extend the lead, blasting over from inside the box after the Viola failed to deal with a corner.
Raffaele Palladino’s half-time substitution of Moise Kean provided Fiorentina with renewed energy, and it was fellow substitute Albert Gudmundsson who almost drew them level, only to be denied by an alert Fran Vieites.
De Gea then matched that save at the other end, acrobatically tipping a Bartra header wide to keep the deficit at one.
As the match appeared to be settling, Antony reignited the crowd with a thunderous strike from the edge of the area that nestled into the top corner, giving Betis breathing space and seemingly putting them in control of the tie.
Moments later, Pablo Fornals squandered an opportunity to all but seal the win after being played in by the influential Isco, his weak finish failing to trouble the Fiorentina goalkeeper.
That miss proved pivotal, as the Italians swiftly hit back. Robin Gosens picked out captain Luca Ranieri, who calmly slotted home to keep the tie finely poised heading into next week’s decisive second leg at the Artemio Franchi.
