ACF Fiorentina climbed out of the Serie A relegation zone after edging Tuscan rivals Pisa SC 1-0 in a hard-fought derby, extending their unbeaten streak in all competitions to four matches (W3, D1).
La Viola began with clear intent, pushing forward from the opening whistle in search of consecutive league victories for the first time this season.
Their early urgency nearly paid off when Cher Ndour unleashed a fierce strike eight minutes in, but Pisa goalkeeper Nícolas reacted sharply to palm the effort away.
The warning went unheeded. Just before the 15-minute mark, the breakthrough arrived as Moise Kean pounced on a loose ball inside the box and rifled home from close range to register his eighth Serie A goal of the campaign.
Kean almost doubled the advantage before the break, rising to meet a pinpoint delivery from Marco Brescianini, only to see his header drift over the crossbar.
Still, Fiorentina headed into half-time fully deserving of their lead, with Pisa offering little in attack.
After the restart, the hosts maintained control and threatened again from a dangerous free-kick, but Nícolas denied Nicolò Fagioli with a smart save.
At the other end, Luca Ranieri produced a crucial intervention to stop Henrik Meister from capitalising on one of Pisa’s rare forward moves.
As the clock ticked down, Fiorentina searched for a decisive second goal. Kean tested Nícolas once more with a low drive that was expertly turned around the post, while Ndour’s powerful late strike was also kept out by the busy Pisa shot-stopper.
In the end, the solitary goal proved enough. Fiorentina secured a vital derby triumph to rise to 16th in the standings, boosting morale ahead of Thursday’s decisive UEFA Conference League play-off second leg.
For Pisa, the defeat deepens their woes, stretching their winless run to 15 matches and leaving them nine points from safety in 19th place.
