Days after Bove collapsed on same field, Fiorentina loses on penalties to Empoli in Italian Cup

FLORENCE, Italy — With teammate Edoardo Bove watching from his hospital bed, Fiorentina was knocked out of the Italian Cup on penalties by Empoli on Wednesday.

Empoli won the shootout 4-3 after the match had ended 2-2. Emmanuel Ekong sent his spot kick wide for Empoli but Fiorentina missed two — with Luca Ranieri seeing his saved and Moise Kean firing over the bar.

Sebastiano Esposito converted the winning penalty to send Empoli into the quarterfinals, where it will face either Juventus or Cagliari.

The match was being played just three days after Bove collapsed on the same field in the 16th minute of a Serie A match against Inter Milan. The 22-year-old has been awake and alert since Monday and had asked his teammates to play the cup match — as it was being considered whether to postpone.

There were plenty of banners in support of Bove in the stands and a huge No. 4 — his jersey number — was displayed before kickoff.

Ekong also held up four fingers after scoring the early opener for Empoli.

Kean, who had hit the crossbar in the first half, eventually equalized in the 59th minute and Robin Gosens completed the turnaround 11 minutes later.

But Esposito struck 15 minutes from time and the encounter went to penalties, with no extra time being played in the Cup at this stage.