Last-gasp Lecce scores twice in three minutes to beat Fiorentina in Italian thriller
Fri, Feb 2, 2024
Soccer News (AP)
ROME (AP) - Lecce scored twice in the last three minutes to beat Fiorentina 3-2 in Serie A on Friday and condemn the Tuscan side to a sixth straight match without a win and its worst start to a calendar year since 2002.
The Florence club has not won since Dec. 29 and has picked up just one point in its last four league games. It remains in seventh place but Bologna, Napoli and Torino are capable of passing it if they win this weekend.
The dramatic comeback was Lecce's first victory since before Christmas and lifted the southern side into 13th place.
Lecce dominated the early action and went 1-0 up after 17 minutes when Remi Oudin scored direct from a free kick.
Fiorentina took control in the second half and Rolando Mandragora equalized for the visitors five minutes in when he picked up a clearance 30 meters from goal and rifled a low shot.
Lucas Beltran made it 2-1 midway through the second half thanks to an atrocious slip up in the Lecce defense. Goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone was slow in clearing the ball and his interception rebounded off Beltran and into the empty net. It was the Argentine's fifth goal in his last eight games.
Just when Lecce looked doomed, Piccoli scored with a header in the 90th.
Then Patrick Dorgu sent the home crowd wild when he grabbed the winner two minutes into stoppage time.
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