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Attendance: 34,379

Serie A

Mar 11, 2018 at 11.30am UK

Fiorentina
1-0
Benevento Benevento

Hugo (25')

FT(HT: 1-0)

Fiorentina beat Benevento in emotional Davide Astori tribute match

By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter | 11 March 2018

Fiorentina pay tribute to Astori in Benevento clash

Fiorentina pay tribute to Davide Astori in Sunday's 1-0 win over Benevento, the Viola's first game since their captain's tragic death.

Fiorentina have secured a 1-0 win over Benevento in the club's first match since the tragic passing of Davide Astori.

The Viola captain and Italy international died in his sleep last Saturday, which led to an outpouring of grief from the football community.

The 31-year-old's teammates wore 'Astori 13' shirts as they entered the Stadio Artemio Franchi field to a standing ovation in Sunday's Serie A home game.

Flags and banners were displayed throughout the stadium bearing Astori's name, and in the 13th minute of the game, the ball was kicked out of play and the action paused so fans and players could join in a minute's applause.

After the game resumed, Fiorentina striker Giovanni Simeone went clear on goal after latching on to a through-ball and drew a save from Benevento goalkeeper Christian Puggioni.

The breakthrough came in the 25th minute courtesy of Vitor Hugo, the man who replaced Astori in the Viola lineup and scored his first ever goal for the Florence outfit.

The 26-year-old - whose shirt number is 31 - headed home a Riccardo Saponara corner and celebrated his maiden Fiorentina goal by running to the bench and saluting an image of the club captain.

Puggioni then kept out a Saponara effort, while Viola keeper Marco Sportiello smothered a Cristiano Lombardi strike at the near post.

Benevento, who sit bottom of the Serie A table, enjoyed several attempts to draw level and hit the post late on through a Massimo Coda effort.

In the end, however, Hugo's header proved to be the difference between the two sides on a day when football seemed to matter little.

FIORENTINA (4-3-3): Sportiello; Milenkovic (Laurini 58'), Pezzella, Hugo, Biraghi; Benassi, Badelj, Veretout; Saponara (Gil Dias 57'); Chiesa, Simeone (Falcinelli 84')

BENEVENTO (4-2-3-1): Puggioni; Sagna, Djimsiti, Tosca, Venuti; Djuricic (Parigini 81'), Cataldi; Lombardi (Diabate 73'), Guilherme, Brignola (Del Pinto 46'); Coda