Fiorentina see off 10-man Cesena to climb up to seventh

Fiorentina have defeated 10-man Cesena 4-1 at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi this evening to climb up to seventh place in Serie A.

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The visitors asserted their authority on the contest early on, coming close to taking the lead through Matias Fernandez's headed effort which was well kept out by Nicola Leali.

Vincenzo Montella's side continued to press for an opener as the first half progressed, although it was not until a minute before the interval that they eventually managed to find a breakthrough.

A rebound inside the box was pounced on by Borja Valero, and he left Leali with no chance to put Fiorentina ahead.

Just three minutes after the restart Stefan Savic doubled his side's advantage with a fine bullet header from close range, although the former Manchester City defender put the ball into his own net on the hour to give Cesena some hope.

Those hopes were dashed 13 minutes from time when Massimo Volta was shown his second yellow card of the evening, though, leaving the Seahorses down to 10 men for the remainder.

Viola made sure of the points shortly after when Gonzalo Rodriguez fired home from the edge of the box, and returning forward Mounir El Hamdaoui added the icing to the cake at the death to leave Cesena camped inside the bottom three.

While the situation is bleak for Pierpaolo Bisoli's charges, who still have just the one win to their name this campaign, things are looking up for Fiorentina who are now three points off a European spot.