Pre-match
There weren’t any surprises in either lineup, although it’s worth noting that Vincenzo Italiano was absent, hospitalized for pneumonia (get well soon, big guy) and sent his assistant Daniel Niccolini to run the show, just as he used to in Florence. Speaking of Florence, the fans provided an atmosphere worth of the Derby dell’Appennino, as Federico Castiglioni explained from inside the Franchi.
First half
Fiorentina wasn’t terrible at the start of the half but was clearly the inferior team as Bologna pressed
and pressed and pressed, keeping the game in the Viola half except for the odd jaunt forward from Moise Kean. David de Gea made a good stop on a Juan Miranda belter but didn’t have a chance against Santiago Castro’s thunderous volley. It was a great strike but never should’ve happened as the hosts missed about 4 chances to clear the initial corner and second phase ball before losing the Rossoblu number nine in the penalty area after Pablo Marí headed the ball straight to him.
Luca Ranieri should’ve equalized not long after but volleyed over a flick from about 8 feet out on the back post and Rolando Mandragora came close with a well-curled free kick from way outside, but the Oscar Mayers were in the driver’s seat and never seemed all that stressed by the feeble Viola attempts to dislodge them. The inability to play out from the back or keep the ball in the middle meant that Bologna could control the game both with and without the ball, leaving Fiorentina in a purely reactive role.
Second half
Kean nearly equalized 30 seconds after the restart but Bologna scrambled it away before reasserting its dominance and indeed doubling its lead through Nicolò Cambiaghi’s glanced finish moments later. The defending was, well, it was quite bad.
The wheels really threatened to come off for the next half hour as Fiorentina did all kinds of silly things, including bringing on Abdelhamid Sabiri (Abdelhmaid Sabiri!) for a spark. The defense, however, continued to plumb new depths of incompetence; there was one passage between Marí and Marin Pongračić that might be the worst defensive sequence I’ve ever seen. Thijs Dallinga scored on the play but it was ruled out by VAR, although it should’ve stood.
VAR wasn’t necessary for Fiorentina’s penalty. Dodô crossed up Lewis Ferguson on the edge of the box and crossed, with the ball striking the Scotsman’s arm. Albert Guðmundsson slotted home the penalty, giving the hosts a lifeline and setting up a wild finish.
That wild finish didn’t disappoint: with 5 minutes left, Fiorentina had another penalty shout for a handball on Ferguson, then Bologna had one for Sabiri’s pretty obvious contact with Federico Bernardeschi (oh yeah, that happened too), then Emil Holm got sent off for his second bookable offense. It was an outrageous sequence that future anthropologists will scrutinize as they try to understand our society.
It got crazier in stoppage time, when Bernardeschi blocked Kean’s scissor kick in the box with an arm. La Penna went to the monitor again and again gave Fiorentina a penalty, which Kean stepped up and banged home to equalize, setting up a wild last few minutes. Dodô had a chance to win it at the depth after Roberto Piccoli headed a free kick on frame and Łukasz Skorupski parried it but the Brazilian, as ever averse to scoring, put it wide of the open net.
Full time
Goals: Guðmundsson PK 74’, Kean PK 90’+3; Castro 25’, Cambiaghi 52’ (ass. Holm)
Cards: Gosens 36’, Guðmundsson 58’, Džeko 90’+5; Freuler 39’, Holm 71’ 83’, Rowe 87’, Lucumí 90’+5
What’s next
Fiorentina doesn’t get any time to unpack just what the hell happened this one because Inter Milan’s waiting at the San Siro on Wednesday for the 3rd game in 7 days before going into a relegation 6-pointer against Lecce next weekend. If the Viola can’t snap up their first win there, though, Pioli’s seat might start warming up. He’s at the helm of a team in 18th, after all, one of 4 that have yet to win a game in Serie A, and even Rocco Commisso is bound to wake up from his nap in the US at some point and wonder what’s going on with his big investment.
