Chievo 1 : 2 Fiorentina - Fiorentina snatch late winner

Substitute Khouma Babacar scored a last-gasp winner as Fiorentina defeated Chievo 2-1 in Verona for their eighth win of the campaign.

It appeared Fiorentina would have to settle for a draw at the Marc' Antonio Bentegodi stadium after Sergio Pellissier's 72th-minute goal cancelled out Gonzalo Rodriguez's first-half opener.

However, Babacar had other ideas and the Senegalese striker headed Joaquin's cross into the back of the net seconds from the end to halt Chievo's three-match unbeaten run.

The victory, which followed their 4-3 triumph over Palermo, has lifted Fiorentina to sixth in the standings, just three points adrift of third-place Napoli, who hold the last Champions League qualifying spot.

The visitors looked the better side for most of the first half and could have taken an 11th-minute lead had Mario Gomez's header from Borja Valero's cross not sailed wide.

At the other end, Mariano Izco's tricky effort from 15 yards was kept out by Fiorentina goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu.

Gomez, who has not scored since November 30, should have put Fiorentina ahead midway through the first half but headed Nenad Tomovic's inch-perfect cross over the bar.

Fiorentina continued to press forward and were almost rewarded in the 27th minute.

Matias Fernandez fed Manuel Pasqual in the area and his diagonal shot towards the far post was saved by Chievo goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri.

The visitors did manage to break the deadlock before half-time, though, when Nenad Tomovic headed Joaquin's cross towards Rodriguez and the Argentinian defender tapped the ball into the back of the net.

Fiorentina almost doubled their lead early in the second half but Fernandez's bullet strike from 18 yards was palmed over the bar by Bizzarri.

Chievo equalised shortly after when Fiorentina failed to clear a dangerous ball into the area and Pellissier made no mistake with an angled shot out of Tatarusanu's reach.

With 12 minutes remaining, a brilliant reaction save from Tararusanu denied Chievo the lead as he made a goal-line stop from Pellissier's close-range header.

But just as Chievo were looking the more likely side to snatch a late winner, Fiorentina scored.

Joaquin's cross was met by Babacar and his powerful header flew past a helpless Bizzarri and into the net.