pasqual puts fiorentina through published: thursday 6 november 2014, 23.50cet acf fiorentina 1-1 paok fc manuel pasqual's late equaliser gave fiorentina the point that they required to reach the round of 32 with two games to spare.
• late manuel pasqual equaliser takes fiorentina through • maarten martens had put paok ahead on 81 minutes • ıtalian side dominated possession before falling behind • point keeps third-placed greek side in with chance of advancing • next games: guingamp v fiorentina, dinamo minsk v paok (27 november)
manuel pasqual buried a free-kick with two minutes remaining to earn acf fiorentina the point they needed against group k rivals paok fc to confirm their place in the uefa europa league round of 32.
substitute maarten martens looked to have given paok victory in the pouring rain at the stadio artemio franchi when he stroked in against the run of play on 81 minutes, but pasqual hit back soon after to fire fiorentina through.
facundo pereyra shot wide with paok's best early chance on 13 minutes, after which the viola dominated the opening period. midway through the half, juan vargas played juan cuadrado's long ball out of defence into the path of mario gomez, who could not direct his volley on target.
three minutes later, vargas's powerful strike was scrambled away by paok keeper panagiotis glykos, who then kept out gomez's diving header following more good work by cuadrado. soon after, the colombian midfielder shot across goal as paok somehow reached the interval unscathed.
stefano athanasiadis had the ball in the net for paok ten minutes into the second-half, but his brilliant strike was ruled out for offside. fiorentina, though, were quickly back on the attack, with panagiotis glykos needing to deny nenad tomović at the other end. the serie a side were enjoying plenty of possession, yet it was paok who promptly took the lead on the break.
eyal golasa's determined run down the right earned its reward when his pass to stefanos athanasiadis was played on to martens to tap in from close range. fiorentina were not behind for long, however, pasqual's curling free-kick earning a deserved draw and safe passage with two games to spare.
