Fiorentina slump to defeat at home to Verona

(Reuters) - Fiorentina's fading hopes of qualifying for the Champions League all but disappeared on Monday as they lost 1-0 at home Verona after conceding a late goal, leaving them nine points behind third-placed AS Roma. Fiore were stunned in the 90th minute when Verona substitute Mounir Obbadi scored from close range after Alessandro Diamanti had missed a second-half penalty for the home side. Whistles greeted the end of the match and coach Vincenzo Montella had no complaints as his side paid dearly for failing to turn their domination into goals. "Everyone is free to do what they want," he told the club's website. "We were not good enough to bring the three points." When Alberto Gilardino was fouled by Verona keeper Rafael in the 65th minute and the referee pointed to the spot Diamanti stepped up but saw his penalty saved low down by Rafael. With that the Viola began to run out of ideas and Obbadi pounced when home keeper Neto failed to gather a shot from Lazaros Christodoulopoulos. The defeat leves Fiore in sixth place on 49 points from 31 games, one place and a point behind Sampdoria who occupy the final Europa League qualifying spot. Fiorentina host Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday after the first leg ended 1-1. (Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)