A free kick from Marcos Alonso has given Fiorentina a 1-0 lead at the halfway stage of their Serie A match against 10-man AC Milan this evening.

Josip Ilicic tried his luck from range in the opening minutes when he saw Diego Lopez off his line, but the goalkeeper recovered in time to make the save.

The hosts came even closer when Nikola Kalinic latched on to Ilicic's pass and found himself through on goal, but he fired his low effort straight at Lopez.

Paulo Sousa's side continued to pose more of a threat and Alonso drilled a low shot across Lopez and inches wide of the far post.

Milan were struggling to deal with the pace of their opponents' attack and in the 36th minute they were reduced to 10 men when Rodrigo Ely bundled over Kalinic and picked up his second booking of the match.

Fiorentina made Milan pay immediately as, from the resulting free kick, Alonso bent an effort beyond the reach of Lopez and into the top corner.