fluid fiorentina power past pandurii published: thursday 24 october 2013, 23.55cet
acf fiorentina 3-0 cs pandurii târgu jiu
excellent first-half goals from joaquín and ryder matos sent the viola on their way to a comfortable victory, maintaining their perfect start in group e.
acf fiorentina are in a commanding position after easing to a 3-0 victory against cs pandurii târgu jiu at stadio artemio franchi.
wonderful individual goals from joaquín and ryder matos had in-form fiorentina comfortable at half-time, before juan cuadrado added the final flourish midway through the second period. the third straight win leaves the viola three points clear of fc dnipro dnipropetrovsk atop uefa europa league group e. cristian pustai's side started well in florence, with the crossbar denying eric pereira a second-minute opener and neto proving his worth by palming bogdan ungurușan's shot past the post. despite pandurii's pressure, the hosts broke the deadlock on 26 minutes. joaquín turned away from his marker, flicked beyond a second challenger and rounded goalkeeper răzvan stanca before tucking in.
eight minutes later, fiorentina doubled their advantage. matos stole possession on the left and burst into the box. under a challenge he lost balance slightly but recovered to neatly slip the ball into an empty net with the outside of his boot.
pustai made two changes for the second half, trying to field a more attacking team, and his decision seemed to pay off; eric pereira's goal-bound shot was well blocked by nenad tomović. but as in the first half, fiorentina shattered their visitors' optimism, grabbing a third on 69 minutes when substitute cuadrado collected a pass from oleksandr yakovenko down the right and drilled in from the angle.
a yakovenko header, matías fernández's free-kick and a stunning solo run from cuadrado all ended with the frame of the goal being struck as fiorentina proved their calibre.
