Ljalic had the chance to cancel out Josip Ilicic's first-half opener with a penalty on the hour mark but saw his effort saved by Fiorentina goalkeeper Neto.

The away goal for Roma could be vital as the second-place Serie A side look to take the initiative in the return leg at the Stadio Olimpico next week.

The hosts started stronger, and it was no surprise when Mohamed Salah fashioned the chance for the opening goal after 17 minutes. 

Salah has been a revelation since arriving in Serie A on loan from Chelsea, with six goals in seven appearances, and he continued his good run of form by playing Ilicic in for the opener.

With Fiorentina on the counter-attack, Salah picked up the ball on the left flank - slightly unfamiliar for him - and drove forward at pace.

No challenges came in and the Egyptian had the simple task of slipping the ball between two defenders to the feet of Ilicic, who took a touch to compose himself before smashing a left-footed drive past Lukasz Skorupski at his near post.

Roma came more into it as the half went on and missed good opportunities through Juan Manuel Iturbe and Alessandro 

Florenzi but they did also lose both captain Daniel de Rossi and Kostas Manolas to injury.

Radja Nainggolan also picked up a booking meaning he will miss the second leg in the Italian capital. 

After the break the two sides edged back into their shells a little in fear of giving away more of an advantage, but the game burst back into life on the hour mark.

Iturbe broke clear down the right and, one-on-one with Neto, tried to dodge past the Fiorentina keeper but was brought down.

The protests were fierce as the Brazilian clearly got a hand to the ball but referee Antonio Mateh Lahoz refused to waver.

Ljalic stepped up and hit the penalty hard and low but Neto dived low to his right to palm it away.

(dailymail.co.uk)