In the first clash between the two sides, it was Preston North End who won the tie, offering some great confidence ahead of another difficult league campaign.
Preston North End Lineup: Woodman, Hughes, Lindsay, Whatmough, Brady, Potts, Whiteman (C), Thórdarson, Frøkjær, Greenwood, Keane
Fiorentina Lineup: Christensen, Parisi, Baroncelli, Pongracic, Kayode, Dodo, Amatucci, Munteanu, Mandragora (C), Sottil, Kouame
Ryan Lowe’s men emerged victorious on their return to home soil ahead of the 2024/25 Championship season, as they beat a strong Fiorentina opposition 2-1 at Deepdale this afternoon.
Prior to kick-off, both teams were looking ahead to this fixture as a momentum builder before a fresh campaign in their respective competitions. Having suffered losses to Southport, Lincoln City and to Tranmere Rovers in a behind-closed-doors friendly, this opted to be a game of unexpected importance for the Preston side and its fans. Without last season’s top goal scorers: Nicolás González, Giacomo Bonaventura, and Lucas Beltrán, this looked to be a great opportunity for new attacking talent to emerge for the Italian side.
Will Keane got the game underway with a pass deep into the Preston defence, with Christian Kouame immediately pouncing on an error inside 20 seconds. However, the forward’s effort towards goal was blocked behind for a corner by Ryan Ledson, which was subsequently cleared away.
The link-up play between Stefán Thórdarson and Sam Greenwood in the first few minutes looked especially fluid and exemplified the roaming role the Leeds United loanee will likely play under Ryan Lowe.
The latter of the two was then supplied on the edge of the box with a simple pass from the new club captain, Ben Whiteman, but his and North End’s first shot of the game was deflected wide for a corner.
In the ninth minute, Riccardo Sottil forced a save at the other end of the pitch which Freddie Woodman was able to deal with comfortably. Noticing a weakness, Fiorentina grew more confident on the counter, promoting a shift in momentum in favour of the two-time UEFA Conference League finalists.
Kouame, who looked increasingly dangerous in the first moments, dribbled through the heart of the Lancashire side’s defence but another tame effort, this time from the 26-year-old, was parried by Preston’s keeper.
A notable tactical change for Lowe’s Championship side was the deep-lying playmaking position that new signing Thórdarson had been deployed in for the first 15 minutes. This looked to provide a little more stability to play out from the back; this change also complimented Whiteman’s willingness to naturally progress up the field.
GOAL: Preston 1-0 Fiorentina: Lindsay 23′
In the 23rd minute, Scottish centre-back Liam Lindsay bundled in a very ‘scrappy’ goal after his initial headed attempt was blocked on the line. This resulted from a well-worked corner played in by Mads Frøkjær, with the Preston fans performing their first Icelandic clap of the afternoon.
GOAL: Preston 1-1 Fiorentina: Mandragora 30′
The goalscorer was then handed a yellow card for a challenge on Fiorentina captain, Rolando Mandragora, on the edge of the home side’s box. From this potentially controversial decision, the 27-year-old fizzed a powerful strike into the bottom left corner, leaving Woodman with no chance and the two sides level after 30 minutes.
A well-timed pass into Dodo saw the Fiorentina counter spring into action again, but after the Brazilian wing-back played his delivery across, Fabiano Parisi fired a rushed finish over the crossbar. A let off for PNE and a questionable miss for La Viola.
Shortly after, and early into the 41st minute, Keane stole possession from the Italian side’s defence but saw his left-footed strike smash into Oliver Christensen’s shoulder and back into Fiorentina’s possession.
GOAL: Preston 2-1 Fiorentina: Keane 43′
In the 43rd minute, Keane made up for his missed chance with a superb strike into the bottom right corner. Frøkjær and Thórdarson linked up nicely to play Brady in down the left flank. The Republic of Ireland international laid a ball across to the goalscorer, who had initially missed the ball but capitalised on the fortunate rebound.
A last-gasp chance for Fiorentina to level the game before the half time whistle, saw Mandragora try for his second from outside the Preston box. This ambitious shot narrowly soared over the crossbar with Woodman seemingly having it covered.
Half-Time: Preston 2-1 Fiorentina
An attacking-minded, half-time substitution for Fiorentina introduced Jonathan Ikone into the mix, as he replaced Louis Munteanu, with the Italian side resuming the game.
In the first few minutes of the half, Mandragora tried to replicate his earlier heroics from a dead ball situation in a similar area to the first. However, this time the Italian midfielder floated the ball over the crossbar, resulting in a North End goal kick.
In the 55th minute, another half-opportunity fell for Kouame as his volleyed attempt sailed high over the bar. Although, a lengthy spell of possession by Fiorentina saw Preston unable to even progress out of their own half.
Shortly after, Marin Pongracic and Lorenzo Amatucci were replaced by Gino Infantino and Luca Ranieri.
A 60th-minute effort from Ben Whiteman, on his weaker left foot from outside the box, followed the growing trend of the match with yet another shot heading over the crossbar.
In the 62nd minute, goalscorer Keane and number ten Frokjaer stepped off the field to allow the introduction of Emil Riis and Duane Holmes.
A fantastic reaction save from a powerful Ikone strike, saw Woodman earn a deserved applause in the 64th minute, and further pandemonium ensued from the home support as Lowe’s side pushed Fiorentina all the way back to their own goal.
Caught on the break in the 67th minute, Brady slid in to bring Kouame down inside the penalty area, with referee Oliver Langford pointing to the spot without hesitation. The Irishman had no choice other than to make the tackle as Ikone and Kouame were closing in on goal.
Before the penalty was taken, Fiorentina introduced Cristiano Biraghi and Pietro Comuzzo as Parisi and Leonardo Baroncelli made way.
Woodman’s heroics continued as the Englishman pushed Kouame’s penalty kick onto the post and any threat on the Preston goal was nullified as the ball was cleared up the pitch.
PNE made their own changes to combat the Fiorentina dominance with Ryan Ledson replacing Thórdarson, and Jordan Storey swapping places with Jack Whatmough. Kouame’s unfortunate day ended with a substitution, allowing Josip Brekalo and Moise Kean to join the pitch. Riccardo Sottil also left the field as part of the double change.
In the 78th minute, the Lancashire side’s threat appeared again with Brady capitalising on a Dodo mistake and threading Riis through for his first involvement in the game. The Dane took Mandragora on before cutting inside and hitting a low-driven shot straight at Christensen.
An 80th-minute let-off for Preston came in the form of another defensive mistake, which led to Moise Kean pouncing on the opportunity to drive at the English side, but his effort thundered against the side netting. Seemingly not having learnt from their mistakes, North End were caught out at the back again and as Kean rounded Woodman, his eventual effort rolled agonisingly onto the far post.
The three remaining outfield starters for Fiorentina: Mandragora, Dodo, and Michael Kayode were replaced by Niccolo Fortini, Alessandro Bianco, and Maat Caprini. Brady also left the field in the 83rd minute as homegrown talent Kian Best was brought on in his place.
Another opportunity fell to Kean as the Preston defence stopped in anticipation of an offside call that never came. Luckily for the Lancashire side, the 24-year-old’s lobbed shot beat Woodman but landed over the goal.
A 90th-minute substitution saw the end of Greenwood’s Deepdale debut as Theo Mawene came on to see the game out and gain some decent experience with the first team. This was the last key event in a fantastic affair between the two sides.
Full-Time: Preston 2-1 Fiorentina
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