Fiorentina made Arsenal’s cruise into the last 16 of the Champions League a little more uncomfortable than they would have liked but a Kim Little penalty and a Vivianne Miedema goal either side of the break ensured a 2-0 win in north London.

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Arsenal’s manager, Joe Montemurro, had played down any idea that a 4-0 away lead meant the result of the tie was a foregone conclusion, though he did concede that the Gunners would “go to London with a bit less stress, can play more at ease”.

If they were relaxed, it showed and, by contrast, Fiorentina stepped out with the bit between their teeth. Unfazed by the bitter cold of Meadow Park, the women in purple harried and pressed Arsenal with a purpose that suggested they might have been fighting for more than just pride.

“They were playing with freedom, they had to go for it and you expect risk-taking. They were very brave in the press but we were smart in dragging it out and finding space between the lines,” said Montemurro.

Fiorentina’s manager, Antonio Cincotta, said: “First of all, we knew before it was going to be almost impossible to keep up with Arsenal. The team is so strong physically, the players are amazing.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Vivienne Miedema scores Arsenal’s second goal, looping her finish over Fiorentina’s Francesca Durante. Photograph: Tess Derry/PA

“But I’m happy because two weeks ago it was 4-0 in our stadium. Today we came here, in Arsenal’s stadium, and we tried to show our winning mentality. We tried to high press as much as we could. We tried to play 3-4-3. It was a stupid idea two hours ago but now we show it is not.”

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Fiorentina were animated, with Stephanie Breitner, Frederikke Thøgersen and Alia Guagni particularly bright on the right but they struggled to get the better of an excellent Katie McCabe. Cincotta embodied the liveliness of his players, running up and down his technical area, gesturing, yelling, clapping and almost distracting from the action on the pitch.

The Gunners looked as if they would make the breakthrough when Little spun on the edge of the box and slipped through to an unmarked Miedema in the middle but the striker fired, uncharacteristically, wildly over. But on the stroke of half-time they had the lead. The referee pointed to the spot after a handball and Little stepped up to power it into the bottom right-hand corner of Francesca Durante’s goal. It crushed the hard-working Italian side’s hopes and the second half lacked the same fight.

In the 73rd minute Arsenal’s patience told when Miedema picked up a scrappy clearance and looped it over Durante, who got a hand to it but could not push it over.

Ultimately they were outclassed and left ruing a system by which they drew the unseeded English champions, Arsenal, in the first round.

“I was climbing a mountain when we had the draw; when I saw the message I almost fell down,” said Cincotta. “We drew one of the three best teams in Europe. We were unlucky. In the future I hope we will have a group stage.”