Serie A | Lecce 1-1 Fiorentina: Big goal keeps slender hope alive

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Skip to contentLECCE, ITALY – APRIL 20: Tiago Gabriel of US Lecce score his team’s equalizing goal during the Serie A match between US Lecce and ACF Fiorentina at Stadio Via del Mare on April 20, 2026 in Lecce, Italy. (Photo by Maurizio Lagana/Getty Images)

Tiago Gabriel’s equaliser kept hope alive for Lecce and caught Cremonese, but Fiorentina maintained their eight-point cushion from the relegation zone with five rounds to play.

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This was a huge fixture to decide who goes down to Serie B with Verona and Pisa. The Viola beat Crystal Palace on Thursday, but still lost the Conference League quarter-final 4-2 on aggregate. Dodo was suspended for that game, with Albert Gudmundsson and Nicolò Fagioli banned for the previous Serie A win over Lecce, so all returned here, but Moise Kean, Fabiano Parisi, Nicolò Fortini and Tariq Lamptey were still injured. Lecce lost six of their last seven games, missing Francesco Camarda, Riccardo Sottil, Kialonda Gaspar, Sadik Fofana and Medon Berisha.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

It was a very aggressive start from the hosts, as Lassana Coulibaly hit the side-netting, then Robin Gosens was forced off with a left thigh problem, replaced by youth team talent Luis Balbo.

Lecce had a series of corners, including one with Walid Cheddira’s looping header cleared off the line by Fagioli.

Cheddira also failed to make the most of a hard and low Ylber Ramadani cross, with almost all their attacks coming down the right flank.

The first real Fiorentina attack was on 28 minutes, as Wladimiro Falcone flew to parry the Rolando Mandragora screamer from the edge of the box.

It was only a warning, as they took the lead moments later. Mandragora threaded through down the right for Jack Harrison, who cut inside to bend a wonderful left-foot finish into the far corner from 12 yards. Not only was it his first goal for Fiorentina, it ended a drought of over a year in league games.

It should’ve been 2-0 when the Viola went on a rapid counter-attack, Roberto Piccoli sliding onto the Dodo assist from six yards only to prod it inches wide.

A Mandragora header and Oumar Ngom effort were both too weak to really trouble the goalkeepers from promising positions, then Cheddira couldn’t connect with a Lassana Coulibaly cross at the back stick.

Coulibaly also failed to make the most of a Konan N’Dri pull-back after the restart, then there was a mad scramble on another N’Dri assist, this time Marin Pongracic with the crucial block on Coulibaly in the six-yard box.

Ramadani drilled wide, then substitute Lameck Banda’s swerving strike forced a great fingertip save from David De Gea to push it round the far post.

Lecce got their equaliser on the resulting corner, Tiago Gabriel getting in front of Cher Ndour to nod in Antonino Gallo’s set play, ending a three-game drought for his team.

Ndour’s header on a corner moments later was inches over the bar, but Lecce really should’ve gone 2-1 up when Pierotti got it all wrong on the Banda pull-back, ballooning over from six yards.

The hosts threw everything forward in a desperate bid to get all three points, but their inability to convert chances has been a problem all season.

Lecce 1-1 Fiorentina

Harrison 30 (F), Tiago Gabriel 71 (L)

20-04-2026 19:45

MatchDay 33

Stadio Ettore Giardiniero – Via del MareLecceFiorentina

Live1 – 1

Player statistic

Lecce

Fiorentina

Starting lineups

30

Wladimiro Falcone
Goalkeeper

25

Antonino Gallo
Defender

85′

17

Danilo Veiga
Defender

5

Jamil Siebert
Defender

44

Tiago Gabriel
Defender

29

Lassana Coulibaly
Midfielder

79

Oumar Ngom
Midfielder

57′

20

Ylber Ramadani
Midfielder

11

Konan N’Dri
Attacker

56′

50

Santiago Pierotti
Attacker

99

Walid Cheddira
Attacker

57′

43

David de Gea
Goalkeeper

2

Dodô
Defender

6

Luca Ranieri
Defender

5

Marin Pongracic
Defender

27

Cher Ndour
Midfielder

80′

44

Nicolò Fagioli
Midfielder

80′

21

Robin Gosens
Midfielder

11′

8

Rolando Mandragora
Midfielder

10

Albert Gudmundsson
Attacker

60′

17

Jack Harrison
Attacker

80′

91

Roberto Piccoli
Attacker

Substitutes

14

Thórir Jóhann Helgason
Midfielder

32

Jasper Samooja
Goalkeeper

1

Christian Früchtl
Goalkeeper

36

Filip Marchwinski
Midfielder

18

Gaby Jean
Defender

13

Matías Pérez
Defender

28

Olaf Gorter
Midfielder

80

Niko Kovač
Midfielder

6

Álex Sala
Midfielder

19

Lameck Banda
Attacker

56′

16

Omri Gandelman
Midfielder

57′

9

Nikola Stulic
Attacker

57′

3

Corrie Ndaba
Defender

85′

3

Daniele Rugani
Defender

1

Luca Lezzerini
Goalkeeper

53

Oliver Christensen
Goalkeeper

15

Pietro Comuzzo
Defender

60

Eddy Kouadio
Defender

23

Eman Kospo
Defender

61

Riccardo Braschi
Attacker

69

Giorgio Puzzoli
Midfielder

62

Luis Balbo
Defender

11′

19

Manor Solomon
Attacker

60′

22

Jacopo Fazzini
Midfielder

80′

4

Marco Brescianini
Midfielder

80′

80

Giovanni Fabbian
Midfielder

80′

BySusy Campanale

Original Article