It was a match to forget for Udinese, who were left with a one-man disadvantage since the opening minutes of the game, which ended 5-1 for the hosts.
Udinese started the match on the attack with Christian Kabasele immediately taking a shot, which was however saved by David De Gea. But then the match changed less than 10 minutes after kick-off: Maduka Okoye got sent off following a hand-ball outside the box and Udinese were left one man down. Right after that, Rolando Mandragora took a free kick and nearly hit the crossbar. Around the 15th minute, Moise Kean reached a tricky ball at the far post, but his effort hit the side-netting. Then Albert Gudmundsson hit the post from just outside the box. Fiorentina took the lead just a few minutes after the 20th minute, with Mandragora scoring with a lay-off free kick.
Udinese immediately tried to fight back with Nicolo Zaniolo, whose shot from the edge of the box was however deflected out for the corner. Then Fiorentina tried to score again with Mandragora, but that time his shot went high.
Towards the end of the first half, Zaniolo burst into the box from the right and took a diagonal shot, which went wide. Just after that Fiorentina scored their second goal, with a shot in the top corner by Gudmundsson from outside the box, and then a third with a header by Cher Ndour.
The second half began with Udinese seeking to pull one back to get back into the match. Hassane Kamara came in from the left and took a shot, but De Gea denied him. It was however Fiorentina who scored again, with Kean netting it after Fabiano Parisi’s shot had hit the post. Kean then got another chance just a few minutes later but missed the target.
Oumar Solet pulled one back with a nice shot halfway through the second half, but Fiorentina immediately responded with a second goal by Kean. Gudmundsson took another shot later on, but Nicolo Bertola cleared it off the line.
The final score was 5-1 for Fiorentina, with Udinese still at 21 points and in ninth place, alongside Sassuolo and Cremonese.
Fiorentina 5-1 Udinese (HT: 3-0)
Scorers: Mandragora (F) 21, Gudmundsson (F) 42, Ndour (F) 45+5, Kean (F) 56 and 69, Solet (U) 66
Fiorentina (4-3-3): De Gea; Dodo, Comuzzo, Pongracic, Ranieri; Mandragora (Fortini 52), Fagioli (Nicolussi Caviglia 81), Ndour; Parisi (Kouame 70), Kean (Piccoli 70), Gudmundsson (Viti 81).
Subs not used: Lezzerini, Martinelli, Sohm, Dzeko, Kospo, Richardson, Kouadio.
Coach: Vanoli
Coach: Vanoli
Udinese (3-5-2): Okoye; Kristensen, Kabasele (Sava 10), Solet; Zanoli (Kamara 46), Piotrowski, Karlstrom, Ekkelenkamp (Gueye 65), Bertola; Zaniolo (Lovric 46), Davis (Buksa 65).
Subs not used: Nunziante, Padelli, Goglichidze, Zarraga, Palma, Bravo, Ehizibue, Camara, Miller.
Coach: Runjaic
Coach: Runjaic
Referee: Maurizio Mariani
Assistants: Stefano Alassio and Alberto Tegoni
Fourth Official: Arena
VAR: Giua
AVAR: Di Paolo
Bookings: Zanoli (U) 39, Parisi (F) 40, Ranieri (F) 65, Nicolussi Caviglia (F) 85
Sent off: Okoye (U) 7
Notes: 5 minutes of added time in the first half. 3 minutes of added time in the second half.