Fiorentina suffered a narrow defeat at home to AEK Athens in the Conference League on Thursday evening.

Eight minutes in, Fiorentina created their first chance through a solo run by captain Luca Ranieri, who slipped a great ball through to Edin Dzeko, but his shot was kept out by Thomas Strakosha. Fiorentina threatened again in the 16th minute, once more through the Bosnian forward, but the AEK goalkeeper produced another excellent save, tipping his header over the bar.

In the 34th minute, the visitors took the lead through Mijat Gacinovic. Orbelin Pineda delivered a perfect cross, former Fiorentina striker Luka Jovic flicked it on in the box, and Gacinovic finished at the far post for the opener. AEK had a big opportunity to double their advantage shortly after when Jovic failed to make the most of a fine cross from Stavros Pilios, firing over.

After three minutes of added time, the first half ended with Fiorentina trailing and needing a response.

The second half restarted with no changes on either side. Around the hour mark, Fiorentina pushed forward but lacked accuracy in the final third. In the 73rd minute, AEK broke forward quickly and Zini struck a powerful right-footed effort that crashed off the inside of the post and stayed out, letting Fiorentina off the hook.

Fiorentina hit the woodwork themselves in the 77th minute when Dzeko met a corner with a strong header. One minute later, Jovic tried a looping effort from the edge of the area with David De Gea off his line, but the Spanish goalkeeper recovered brilliantly to tip it wide.

In the 84th minute, Fiorentina had a clear chance when Mattia Viti laid the ball back for Rolando Mandragora, whose left-footed strike sailed over the bar.

After seven minutes of stoppage time, Fiorentina fell to a second straight Conference League defeat. The match ended 1-0 to the Greek visitors.

Fiorentina 0-1 AEK Athens (HT: 0-1)

Scorer: Gacinovic 35.

Fiorentina (3-5-2)
De Gea; Pongracic, Comuzzo, Ranieri (Viti 78), Fortini (Fazzini 78), Mandragora, Nicolussi (Fagioli 78), Ndour (Kean 62), Parisi (Kouadio 62); Gudmundsson, Dzeko.
Coach: Vanoli.
Subs not used: Lezzerini, Martinelli, Sohm, Pablo Mari, Kospo, Richardson, Piccoli.

AEK (4-4-1-1)
Strakosha, Rota, Moukoudi, Filipe Relvas, Pilios; Gacinovic (Grujic 81), Pineda, Pereyra (Mantalos 66), Koita (Zini 66, Penrice 90); Marin; Jovic.
Coach: Nikolic.
Subs not used: Angelopoulos, Brignoli, Vida, Kosidis, Chrysopoulos.

Booked: Gudmundsson, Pereyra, Pilios, Pongracic, Mandragora.