Basel overturned a 1-0 half-time deficit to record a 2-1 victory from their opening Europa League group encounter away to a 10-man Fiorentina side this evening.
The game was only four minutes old when Croatia international Nikola Kalinic broke his Fiorentina goalscoring duck following his recent switch from Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.
Basel goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik was at fault as he failed to hold a routine low cross in the area and Kalinic was on hand to bundle the ball over the line from close range.
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That was the only real meaningful chance of note throughout the opening 45 minutes at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, but the game opened up at the start of the second half as the hosts set about scoring a second goal.
Jakub Blaszczykowski, who recently arrived in Florence on loan from Borussia Dortmund, saw a low shot cannon off the outside of the post, while Kalinic was not able to keep his acrobatic effort on target. Sandwiched between those two attempts, Basel's Marco Janko had a goal ruled out for offside.
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The turning point, though, came in the 66th minute when Fiorentina defender Gonzalo Rodriguez was handed a straight red card for a foul on Breel Embolo and within the space of five minutes, Basel were level. Luigi Sepe got a hand to Birkir Bjarnason's strike, but the loanee goalkeeper could only help the ball on its way into the back of the net.
Then, just eight minutes later the Swiss side scored what would prove to be the winning goal, with Sepe helpless on this occasion. Having created himself enough space 25 yards from goal to have a shot, Egyptian winger Mohamed Elneny unleashed a powerful effort that left the Fiorentina keeper with no chance.
Liam Apicella
