Today in beautiful Florence the Viola defeated Bologna 1-0, and thus earned their first win of the young season. The Great Man started with a bit of a surprise line-up (Gamberini was back but Monto and Mutu started on the bench) but the team played well enough to get the win and the three points, thanks to another goal from Gila.
Here are the notes from the weekend:
• First of all, my apologies for not previewing the match; in my nine or so months since I’ve started blogging the team, this is the first Series A match I’ve missed previewing. I have a sick three-month-old, have been sick myself, and had a bunch of family obligations, but I still feel I’ve failed you in my sacred duty as an unpaid blogger. So I apologize.
• Much, much more frustratingly, I also missed the match. I was all set at my computer at 9 this morning with my little boy in my lap, ready to watch the game. It was not televised on US TV. However, every stream I found was either broken or for some other reason did not work. So far in this young season I have had a terrible time getting proper streams for Fiorentina games. Have others in the US had the same problems? If anyone has any suggestions, I would be more than happy to hear them.
• The big news before the match this weekend was that non-season ticket holders would be banned from the match, both because of recent troubles on the peninsula and because of the historic bad blood between Bologna and Fiorentina. That’s no fun for anybody.
• The big news from the start of the match was that Gamberini was playing (and, surprise, no goals were scored by Bologna) and Monto and Mutu started on the bench, perhaps with an eye towards Wednesday’s game with Lazio. I can’t say much about how it worked, not seeing the game and all.
• Finally, as I said, Gila scored again. I believe this gives him four goals in four games in all competitions since the season started. I’m pretty sure I would be satisfied with a goal-a-game average for the rest of the season, my man.
Okay, that’s all I’ve got. I can’t really write too much about a game I didn’t see. If you would like to read a recap written by someone who, you know, watched the game, you can find a decent enough one here. In the meantime, I will be back, hopefully, with a preview of the Lazio match before Wednesday. Forza Viola, everyone.