Today in Naples Napoli defeated Fiorentina 2-0 behind a brace by Argentine striker Ezequiel Lavezzi. While the day was not as bad as it could have been (Milan lost as well, which I will get to in a moment) it must be reflected on as nothing more than a wasted opportunity; a chance not only to put some distance between the Viola and Milan, but also (dare we say it) to make some ground up on Juve. But it was not to be.
First of all, I want to be clear that I did not see the game. It was not televised for rights reasons, so like any other interested parties I simply followed it online. Thus I do not have much insight to add. However, it seemed as if the Viola (and particularly Mutu) had a number of chances to score and theoretically could have won the game. A little more luck, combined with a little more constancy in the back (apparently Pasqual had a very poor game) could have left Fiorentina with a draw or a win. All credit to Napoli, however, as they got the job done at home. Fiorentina’s road woes (in spite of their win at Juve a few weeks ago) continue.
It was a weird day at the top of the table. Inter and Juve both drew. Roma lost a thriller in the Rome derby. Milan lost to Samp. Three points for Fiorentina would have put them seven up on Milan and just two behind Juve. That would have made the next few weeks a lot of fun.
However, it’s also OK to look for the silver lining in these situations. Once I realized the Viola were going to lose, I was sure Milan had won. The fact that they lost at home to Samp is a gift that basically allows Fiorentina to pretend this matchday never happened. Their place in the table is essentially unchanged, and they will go into the weekend with the same four-point lead they had today. As I’ve said all season, I’d rather be four points up than four points down, so we will take this and see what happens this weekend.
I’ll be back with team reaction to the loss and previews of this weekend.