Fiorentina suffers surprise 2-0 home defeat by Empoli

Goals by Francesco Caputo and Emmanuel Gyasi upset Fiore, who created 18 chances to seven from the visitors and left them in fifth place, five points behind leaders Inter Milan.

Empoli’s Emmanuel Gyasi, left, and Francesco Caputo celebrate their team’s victory during the Serie A match against Fiorentina. | Photo Credit: AP

Fiorentina failed to put pressure on the Serie A pacesetters as it suffered a shock 2-0 home loss to lowly Empoli in Serie A on Monday while the visitors climbed out of the relegation zone.

Goals by Francesco Caputo and Emmanuel Gyasi upset Fiore, who created 18 chances to seven from the visitors and left them in fifth place, five points behind leaders Inter Milan.

Vincenzo Italiano’s side also missed out on a club record -- a win would have given them 20 points from the first nine games and their highest tally in the three points for a win era.

“It’s something that can happen,” he told  Sky Italia. “Today we found a team that punished us and we have to say well done to them.

“We created a lot but we were not good on their goals. We could have woken up with an incredible ranking, we have to archive this defeat as we do with the victories.”

Empoli took the lead in the 21st minute when Caputo lifted the ball over goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano from close range.

Forward Caputo then thought he had doubled the advantage in first-half stoppage time with a header but his effort was ruled out for a handball.

However, substitute Emmanuel Gyasi did seal the win with a low shot down the middle of the goal late in the 81st.

Fiorentina, which beat champions Napoli 3-1 away before the international break, had early chances through Nicolas Gonzalez and Alfred Duncan but were denied by keeper Etrit Berisha.

Empoli, which came into the game with only one goal in Serie A this season, was under pressure for most of the second half, but its Albania keeper Berisha dealt with the few shots on target.

The victory moved Empoli up to 17th on seven points, pulling them out of the drop zone with their second win in nine games.

They next host sixth-placed Atalanta on Monday before Fiorentina travel to Lazio, who is ninth.