Vincenzo Montella praised his Fiorentina team for their performance in beating Cittadella 2-0 in the fourth round of the Coppa Italia at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence on Tuesday night.

“We were a bit clumsy and anxious at the start, but then we had 15 or 20 minutes when we played some good football at a high tempo and created lots of chances,” said Montella, speaking in his post-match press conference. “Obviously the sending off changed the nature of the game, but the team actually defended better after that. We kept things tight and showed a reaction in terms of character, as we’d seen against Lecce. There were players out there that haven’t played so much, so I was proud of them because it was a quality performance and they showed character. I thank them for that and am really pleased with them, just as I’m happy for [Marco] Benassi for his goals.”

Montella went on to acknowledge the importance of the win for the Viola after a difficult run of results.

“This is an important win and there have been some big reactions from individual players and the team,” he said. “Some of the players that have played yet have got some experience. It wasn’t easy for anyone to come into the team tonight, not even for an experienced goalkeeper like [Pietro] Terracciano. I’m really pleased about that. Obviously it gives us a boost because it would have been really difficult to accept not getting through after our recent run of defeats. It was an uphill battle but we reacted – it was a very difficult night.”

Montella had special praise for Marco Benassi, who scored both goals to send Fiorentina through to the fifth round.

“Marco found it really hard when he was not playing after I decided that the team was doing well the way it was and kept the players the same,” he said. “It was the first time in my managerial career that I’d done that. That was tough for him, and then when I did bring him into the side, the team didn’t play well – against Verona, for example. I expected this kind of performance from him because his stats speak for themselves. He’s quite an atypical player but he’s versatile – he played in three or four positions this season. When we briefly went down to eight men he filled in at full-back. He played on both sides of central midfield, went wide on the left… He’s a useful player that any coach would like to have.”