The Viola waver

The Viola waver

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Thu 17 Jan 2013 1:00 AM

ACF
Fiorentina have slipped to fifth placed in Serie A, after 0-2 loss at home to Pescara
and a 3-1 away defeat to Udinese, leaving them five points adrift of third
placed Napoli and the desired Champions League place. A further 0-1 defeat at
home to AS Roma has left the Viola out of the Coppa Italia. Indeed, these
recent results have been particularly disappointing given their consistently
fluent style of play.

 

Fiorentina
0-2 Pescara
. The
Viola dominated the first half of this encounter, peppering Pescara’s goal with
no less than 11 shots before the break. First Luca Toni, and then Guillermo
Cuadrado, and Borja Valero all spurned goal-scoring opportunities. Fiorentina
were made to regret their early generosity, however, when they were left
trailing by the opposition’s first sustained attack after an hour. Pescara
added insult to injury by doubling the lead in the dying minutes of the game,
giving the score-line a deceiving one-way slant.

 

Udinese
3-1 Fiorentina
. Despite
going ahead after 20 minutes thanks to a Udinese in its own net, Fiorentina
suffered another disappointing defeat. While the Viola midfield dominated
possession for long spells, two goals by Italian international Antonio Di
Natale, and a third by Colombian striker Luis Muriel, put the game out of
Fiorentina’s reach. In contrast, the Viola lacked some clinical finishing in
attack: tellingly, only 2 of their 21 shots were on goal.

 

Fiorentina
0-1 AS Roma (after extra-time).
The Viola were knocked out of the Coppa Italia in
a hard-fought defeat at Florence’s Artemio Franchi stadium, which ended with
three red cards. While Fiorentina hit the woodwork three times, they were
unable to make their extra possession count. A series of defensive errors
allowed Roma forward Mattia Destro to poach a goal after 97 minutes. Tempers
escalated in extra time, with Viola winger Guillermo Cuadrado being sent off
for unsporting behaviour. A third consecutive defeat means Fiorentina now have
only Serie A to play for.

 

Good news
for the team has come in the form of 25-year-old Giuseppe Rossi. The prolific
Italian international forward has signed on with the Viola in a 10-million-euro
deal, and now has a recession clause of 35 million. He is sidelined until March
however, with a cruciate knee ligament injury.

 

Next up. Fiorentina face direct rivals
Napoli in a crucial encounter at home on January 20 at 12:30pm. The team then
plays away to Catania on January 27 at 3pm.

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