Italian Serie A: Fiorentina fight to narrow win

Fiorentina resisted a spirited fightback from Palermo to secure a frenetic 4-3 Serie A victory at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

It looked like Palermo were there for the taking after captain Manuel Pasqual's goal gave dominant Fiorentina the lead heading into half-time on Sunday afternoon.

Jose Maria Basanta nudged the Tuscans further ahead following the restart but Palermo suddenly sprang to life and restored parity through a smash-and-grab brace from substitute Robin Quaison.

Juan Cuadrado then scored to quell the visitors' celebrations and Joaquin added a goal of real quality to earn Fiorentina all three points, even though Palermo had time to grab a third thanks to Andrea Belotti and his penalty.

The victory lifts Vincenzo Montella's men above Genoa and into sixth place while Palermo slip to 10th.

Fiorentina completely dominated the first half and might have found the opener in just five minutes, but Mario Gomez's smooth finish past Stefano Sorrentino was ruled out for offside.

The 20million euro German striker, who has scored only once this season, came close again after sweeping up Pasqual's cross from the left in the ninth minute.

It fell to the Fiorentina skipper to open the scoring just before the midway point of the half. Pasqual became the first Italian player to score a league goal for La Viola this term as he beat Sorrentino from outside the area.

The Tuscans kept pushing and both Borja Valero and Marcos Alonso went perilously close to doubling the advantage - the former clattered the bar with Sorrentino beaten and Alonso's attempt fizzed just over the bar.

With Palermo in damage-limitation mode they resisted Fiorentina once more heading into the break as Sorrentino's good positioning forced David Pizarro to hit a post rather than tuck the ball away.

The hosts resumed turning the screw after the interval and in the 51st minute Basanta doubled their lead.

Confusion in the Palermo box allowed the Argentinian defender to nip in ahead of Sorrentino and clip home.

Pizarro and Valero both tried their luck for goal number three, but Fiorentina were soon to find themselves pegged back thanks to a two-minute raid by the Sicilians.

Substitute Quaison scored both goals, first stealing behind the hosts' back line to halve the deficit before dragging Palermo level with his second after both Alonso and Ciprian Tatarusanu failed to clear their lines.

Fiorentina may have been rattled by the double salvo but they did not reveal as much, with Cuadrado silencing the visiting supporters by restoring the hosts' lead with a goal on the slide in the 65th minute.

Joaquin moved to banish thoughts of a Palermo comeback by grabbing Fiorentina's fourth goal nine minutes later.

The former Malaga winger cut in from the left wing before steering a twisting drive beyond the flapping Sorrentino and into the back of the net.

But if the Spaniard believed he had had the final word he would be proved wrong as, in the 81st minute, Palermo made it 4-3 from the penalty spot.

Contact between Basanta and Belotti in the Fiorentina box allowed the latter to step up and stick away the seventh goal of a frantic encounter.