Leeds United Loan Star Fires Side Through Cup Tie | OneFootball

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Leeds United loan star Willy Gnonto found the back of the net for Fiorentina on Tuesday night as he helped La Viola into the next round of the Coppa Italia.

Gnonto made the switch to Fiorentina in the summer transfer window on a loan deal, with the Italian side having an option to buy set at €15m.

Leeds boss Daniel Farke admitted that letting Gnonto leave was emotional, with the winger hugely popular inside the dressing room at Elland Road.

There has been much excitement at Fiorentina over the impact that Gnonto can make on the pitch, even though he suffered an early change of manager.

Now Gnonto has given Fiorentina a taste of what he can do, scoring La Viola’s second goal in a 3-0 Coppa Italia win over Pisa.

Gnonto struck with 71 minutes on the clock against Pisa as he took advantage of fine work from fellow summer signing Alieu Njie, who cut the ball back to him after surging into the box, allowing the Leeds man to finish from around the penalty spot.

The Leeds winger remained on the pitch for the full 90 minutes of the cup tie.

Fiorentina now face a high profile clash with Napoli in Serie A at the weekend and Gnonto will be keen to keep his spot in La Viola’s side.

Gnonto turned out in Fiorentina’s last Serie A game, a 4-2 win at Venezia, but came on off the bench rather than starting.

Leeds will keep a close eye on Gnonto’s progress at Fiorentina for any clues as to how likely the Italians might be to trigger the option to buy in the loan agreement.

Gnonto struggled to command regular game time at Leeds last term and there was no indication his situation would improve if he remained at Elland Road this season.

The move to Fiorentina has handed Gnonto his first chance to play in Serie A.