Mario Gomez scored a vital away goal to leave the Europa League tie between Fiorentina and Juventus all square after the first leg in their last-16 clash.

The home side took the lead in the third minute when a loose ball fell kindly to Vidal in the penalty area and he made no mistake volleying past Neto, with a strike into the bottom corner.

Fiorentina responded and Alberto Aquilani nearly fired home an equaliser for his side when a clearance fell into his path on the edge of the area, and he drilled a shot just wide of the post.

The visitors threatened again as Matias Fernandez found room inside the box down the left, and he fired a shot at goal from a tight angle but Gianluigi Buffon got down low to make the save.

In an end-to-end game, Vidal came close to notching his second of the match as Claudio Marchisio lifted a cross to the back post and the striker nodded the ball at goal but Neto made the stop.

Just before the break, Vidal got a header away at goal which hit the crossbar and went over, while at the other end Borja Valero's deflected shot went inches wide of the post.

After half time, both sides struggled for quality in the final third of the pitch as they saw plenty of possession but were unable to carve out any clear-cut chances.

However, the match came back to life when Fiorentina found a leveller through Gomez as Josip Illicic lifted a ball over the top of the Juventus defence and the striker hit a first-time shot past Buffon into the net.

The home side tried to respond to being pegged back and Paul Pogba picked up the ball and raided into the box, but saw his low effort go agonisingly wide of the post.

Fiorentina came back with an effort of their own as Juan Vargas fired an effort from just outside the area, which had Buffon scrambling, but it went just the wrong side of the woodwork.