Fiorentina Women battled their way to a 4-1 victory over Sampdoria on Saturday, hauling themselves into joint second place alongside Juventus.

Miriam Longo struck in the first half but the hosts fought back after the break and halved the deficit
through Tecia Pettenuzzo. The Viola eventually made sure of the points with late goals by January signings Pauline Hammarlund and Annahita Zamanian.

Victory keeps Patrizia Panico's side in the hunt for the second Champions League spot ahead of a big week. On Wednesday they will attempt to overturn a 1-0 deficit when visit AC Milan for the second leg of their Coppa Italia quarter-final, while next Saturday they are due to host Juventus in a crunch Serie A encounter.

Sampdoria 1-4 Fiorentina (0-2)
Scorers: Longo 29, 32, Pettenuzzo S 57, Hammarlund 83, Zamanian 87.

SAMPDORIA: Tampieri, Bonfantini, Cedeno (Cuschieri 16), Re (Regazzoli 69), Oliviero (De Rita 69), Pisani, Tarenzi (C), Prugna (Lopez 46), Fallico, Pettenuzzo, Giordano (Panzeri 61).
Subs not used: Fabiano, Conc, Battistini, Lazzeri.
Coach Antonio Cincotta.

ACF FIORENTINA: Schroffenegger, Tortelli (C) (Agard 61), Breitner, Jackmon , Erzen, Boquete (34’ Catena), Parisi, Johannsdottir (Monnecchi 46), Zamanian, Longo (Mijatovic 86), Kajan (Hammarlund 61).
Subs not used: Baldi, Russo, Cafferata, Vitale.
Coach: Patrizia Panico.

Booked: Pisani S, Erzen F, Prugna S, Fallico S, Regazzoli S.