R... E... S... P... E... C... T...

Once again, the Italian Federation rolled out another ass-clown of a ref in a continuing three ring circus of a second half of the season and this week it was Andrea Gervasoni, who handed out 8 yellow cards, including a second yellow to Mobido Diakite to send Fiorentina to 10 men, another 2 red cards, one to Borja Valero which will force Fiorentina to play next week without 3 starters.

Gervasoni also, rightly, gave a penalty for a rash foul in the box on Nenad Tomovic.

Only heroics from Matias Fernandez on a perfectly placed free kick rescued a result for la Viola, who kept place with 5th place Inter and remain in fourth place in the league, with a very complicated stretch of the schedule coming up.

From the very beginning of the match it was clear that the ref was going to be an issue, as Joaquin had his ankle clearly stomped on and the rf declined to pull the card and then did pull the yellow on Diatkite ten minutes later, for a much less severe amount of contact.

Much like a kid with a bag of cheese puffs, Gervasoni couldn't just stop with one and flashed another yellow at Christian Molinaro just a few minutes later. It wasn't just cards today, Gervasoni called 31 fouls on the match, one every 3 minutes.

However the first score wasn't a result of a bad call, but as a result of very poor defense as somehow someone forgot to mark Antonio Cassano just before the 40 minute mark and of course Fantonio made no mistake.

Quite bravely, however, Fiorentina charged right back and scored as Juan Cuadrado took a nice pass from Alessandro Matri and scored it. Borja Valero had charged the middle and taken the attention of the defender and the goalie, leving the Colombian wide open. The half ended 1-1.

it only took five minutes, however, before Parma took the lead as Nenad Tomovic with a moment of madness got his boot up into Biabiany giving an already eager Gervasoni the chance to get his face on tv again and he wasted no time pointing to the spot and waved his yellow card again, giving Tomovic a yellow. David Pizarro, in a moment of madness, overly protested and got himself banned for next week.

It would only get worse for la Viola as Diakite made a foolish tackle and gave Gervasoni all the chance he needed to wave the yellow again, sending off the French defender. The second yellow was probably warranted, but the first was a joke.

But Gervasoni wasn't done affecting the outcome. he continued to blow the whistle every three minutes and continued to give each squad chances deep in each others zone and it paid off for Fiorentina as Matias Fernandez, brought on for Alberto Aquilani took a free kick and placed it perfectly to rescue a point.

The buffoonery was not yet complete as another free kick was given with time running out and Gervasoni allowed a tussle to flare out of control and in he came, waving cards right and left, and red carded Borja Valero and Gianni Munari, effectively leaving Fiorentina without a central midfield for next match against Lazio.

The single point doesn't really hurt Fiorentina as both Inter and Napoli dropped 2 points this weekend, but we'll have to see the effect the suspensions have against Lazio next week,

Fiorentina host Esbjerg on Thrusday in the Europa League with a big 3-1 lead in aggregate and the advantage in away goals as well

Roster

Norberto Neto(7) - Amazing double save to keep them in the hunt.

Mobido Diakite(4) - making that harsh a tackle while on a ellow card is stupid at best. I would rather see Tomovic out on that side anyways.
Gonzalo Rodriguez(5.5) - best defender on the pitch, but that really doesn't count for much. Only one really good play I remember.
Stefan Savic(5) - No sign of the pencil thin mustache and cassano wide open. pathetic.
Nenad Tomovic - really sucks on the left. got in cuadrado and valeros way all match. also invisible on teh cassano goal

Alberto Aquilani(6) - Aquilani's been playing much better.
David Pizarro(5) - played great, but he's a hot headed dumbass and his temper is going to cost the squad dearly yet again. I'm done with this freak show. Can't wait for summer to see him gone.
Borja Valero(5) poor match for him. chance after chance went begging. had some pretty passes, but put a ribbon on a pig, it's still a damn pig.Also a dumbass for allowing Gervasoni to toss him and make him miss the next match.

Juan Cuadrado(6) - got the goal, and earned the free kick that Fernandez scored on. But really couldn't get around his man on either side. not his best effort.
Alessandro Matri(5) - didn't really do anything for me
Joaquin Sanchez(5) - got stomped on early and it seemed to affect him. no real threat from him

subs
Mario Gomez for Joaquin - rusty still. weak dive, lucky to not get carded
Josep Ilicic for Matri - waste of the air he breathed in tonight. worthless.
Matias Fernandez for Aquilani - man of the match. what a strike.

Montella(5) - bad choice in defense, although what other choices he had were limited. Did make the right call on the subs.

Gervasoni(2) - This season, in 13 matches he's given 73 yellows, 4 straight reds and 7 pks. Way to involved and way to quick to wave his little yellow card (averaging 5.5 yellow cards a match) . He probably suffers deeply from having a very small penis.

This is not the first time la Viola have lost a man to this ref. In 2010 in a very winnable match at home against Napoli, he sent off Juan Vargas and Fiorentina had to settle for another tie.

Quotes

Montella:

"We must learn to control ourselves and be more clear-headed when dealing with certain situations. Even in a tough arena and with 10 men, the team had a great reaction to equalize."

"I always tell the team to control these situations, but perhaps those who come from different Leagues have struggled to accept the tension. The team is a little irritable and that’s understandable when feeling a few incidents have gone against them. We must try to be more collaborative and accept decisions better."

"It was a great first half performance and we had fun with our football, even if we weren’t clinical enough in the final third. We were under pressure after the break, but with tenacity snatched back a result that I think was fair."

Hi Lights

Serie A Goals

(* indicates a goal in this match)

Rossi (14)
Valero (5)
Aquilani (4) 
Cuadrado (4) *
Vargas (4)                      
Fernandez (3) *
Gomez (2)
Ilicic (2) 
Matri (2)
Rodriguez (2)
Joaquin (1)
Pizarro (1)                
Wolski (1)

Yellow Card Accumulation

(Disqualification of one game after the 4th, 8th, 12th, 15th and the 17th yellow card. Past 17, every yellow card is equivalent to a one-match ban. (Players receiving yellow cards in this match have an *, red cards #)

Rodriguez (9)
Aquilani (6)
Cuadrado (6)  
Ambrosini (4)
Pizarro (4)  - misses next match
Valero (4)  # - misses next match for straight red
Compper(3)  - misses match on next yellow  
Tomovic(3) * - misses match on next yellow
Diakite (2) ** - misses next match for second yellow
Neto (2)   
Pasqual (2)
Savic (2) *
Fernandez (1)
Gomez (1)  
Ilicic (1)
Matos(1)                                            
Rebic (1)
Rossi (1)
Wolski (1)

Looking Ahead

A home match against Elbjerg with a 3-1 advantage. The team can coast on Thursday and have players rested, expect a very young squad and a slow paced match for the home squad, who will probably just be looking to see the tie off with as little effort as possible.

Lazio, the next league opponent, on the other hand, have to travel to Bulgaria and try to win if they care about advancing in the competition, (which I dont think they really do) having lost 1-0 at home last week. Lazio will have to travel home and then travel north to Firenze.

Also on the plus side in the league, Lazio have given up 5 goals in two matches against Sassuolo and Catania, although they did manage to squeek  out a win agaisnst Sassuolo.

On the down side, Fiorentina will have to play without Diakite, Pizarro and Valero. Expect Aquilani and Fernandez to feature, with Anderson most likely to get the start, although it could be Vargas. Tomovic will have to move to the right and Pasqual will surely have to start on the left.

Other matchups include Inter travelling to Roma and Juve at Milan. napoli will have it easier with a match at Livorno, while Verona host Bologna.

After Lazio, a week off to get ready for the trip to Juventus. Pizarro and Valero will have plenty of rest, at least,

Thu Feb 27 3:05 ET Fiorentina v Esbjerg - Europa League (Second Round)
Sun Mar 2 2:45 ET Fiorentina v Lazio
Sun Mar 9 7:30 ET Juventus v Fiorentina
Thu Mar 13 TBD ET Juventus/Trabzonspor v Esbjerg/Fiorentina - Europa League (Third Round)
Sun Mar 16 3:45 ET Fiorentina v Chievo Verona
Thu Mar 20 TBD Esbjerg/Fiorentina v Juventus/Trabzonspor - Europa League (Third Round)
Sun Mar 23 1:30 ET Napoli v Fiorentina
Wed Mar 26 10:00 ET Fiorentina v AC Milan
Sun Mar 30 9:00 ET Sampdoria v Fiorentina
Sun Apr 6 9:00 ET Fiorentina v Udinese
Sun Apr 13 9:00 ET Hellas Verona v Fiorentina
Sat Apr 19 9:00 ET Fiorentina v AS Roma
Sun Apr 27 9:00 ET Bologna v Fiorentina
Sat May 3 2:45 ET Fiorentina v Napoli  - Coppa Italia (Final)
Sun May 4 9:00 ET Fiorentina v Sassuolo
Sun May 11 9:00 ET Livorno v Fiorentina
Sun May 18 9:00 ET Fiorentina v Torino
End Of Season

Table

Juventus    66 
Roma        57
Napoli        51
Fiorentina    45
Inter        40
Verona    39
Parma        37
Torino        36
Milan        35
Lazio        35