Pre-match
Robin Gosens, Cher Ndour, Albert Guðmundsson, and Roberto Piccoli all came into the XI, although Ndour’s inclusion was the only surprise as the other three were all replacing absent starters; Moise Kean and Manor Solomon were in street clothes in the stands alongside the suspended Fabiano Parisi. Also in the stands was a banner commemorating Davide Astori, as this was the home match closest to the anniversary of his passing on 4 March 2018.
First half
It didn’t require a
genius to see that this was going to be a pretty slow game. These are two teams that don’t really want the ball because that means they can’t win it and counterattack. Sure enough, the first half was played at a snail’s pace. It felt like the teams took turns attacking and defending, minimizing any opportunities in transition. Since neither side had the quality to unlock a deep defense, it meant they were reduced to speculative efforts. There wasn’t a shot on target in the half and not really anything worth mentioning besides 3 nutmegs: 2 from Guðmundsson and one from Piccoli, of all people.
Second half
Fiorentina came out looking a lot more energetic and created a couple chances, including a real live shot on target, but that intensity didn’t lead to a goal. The lack of quality on display was astonishing. Neither team ever really looked like breaking through and the like-for-like substitutions changed nothing. When the triple blast arrived, it rang down the curtain on a strong candidate for Serie A’s least eventful match of the year, which is still an improvement on the past week or so.
Full time
Goals: lol
Cards: Mandragora 61’, Dodô 90’
What we learned
-Guðmundsson is fine when he stays wide on the left but disastrous when given the freedom to roam. He’s got the ability to dance past opponents but has no feel for when/where he should try; restricting him to only dribbling on the wing minimizes the threat of him losing the ball in the worst possible place. I think Vanoli agreed and really hammered it into him at the break.
-Parma didn’t really attack all that much but Luca Ranieri and Marin Pongračić deserve credit for completely erasing Mateo Pellegrino, Gabriele Strefezza, Gaetano Oristanio, and Nesta Elphege. That’s hardly a group of world beaters but competence hasn’t been the baseline.
-Part of that defensive competence was that the Viola avoided fouling in dangerous areas: Parma didn’t have a set piece in the Fiorentina half until the 90th minute, and of course immediately created some danger and won a corner after Ranieri absorbed a shot to the torso.
-The crowd started to turn on former Gatorade High School Player of the Year Jack Harrison around the hour mark, whistling him every time he did something wrong. Which ended up being every time he touched the ball until he got subbed off.
-A win would’ve been nice but a draw is fine. I think Vanoli’s entire ethos here was avoiding defeat at all costs and that makes sense: another loss might have broken this team emotionally. A draw arrests the downward momentum. It’s not popular with the fans but sometimes playing for a point isn’t the worst idea.
What’s next
The Ekstraklasa Viola welcome Raków Częstochowa to the Franchi for the Conference League Round of 16 on Thursday. After that, it’s a 6-pointer at Cremonese that’s shaping up as a must-win; the Grigiorossi are in freefall and beating them would probably be enough to ensure survival. It’d better be because the final 9 Serie A games are brutal, beginning with Inter Milan in 2 weeks, and that’s after the long trip to Poland.
That said, the point here, combined with Cremonese’s controversial loss at Lecce, means Fiorentina is now in sole possession of the coveted 18th place with 24 points, 1 ahead of Cremo for now. With every remaining opponent either scrapping to avoid the drop or for Europe (aside from Lazio and Sassuolo), dropping points next week would probably be enough to put the noose around Fiorentina’s neck. So hey, get out there and play without any pressure.
