Unleash the Beast - Bologna 0-3 Fiorentina

The starting line-up was comprised of Neto on goal behind a four man defense made of Vargas, Diakite, Gonzalo, and Tomovic. In the middle, the three tenors Pizarro, Aquilani and Valero in support of the front players Cuadrado, Ilicic and Joaquin. A slight change in the starters probably another test by Montella in his quest to find the best eleven for the upcoming Coppa final against Napoli. White shirts, purple shorts, Diakite in place of Savic, Joaquin ahead of Matos, Ilicic is still there and Vargas with the captain band.

Neto was tested right from the start when Aquafresca sent an aimed header to the top corner of the goal which took a high jump from Neto to concede a corner. It looked like another one of those matches where too many passes will be given away when Aquilani provided a pass to Bologna offense to shoot just wide from the goal. The tables started to turn with Gonzalo sending a one touch long ball to Ilicic in front of the goal who learnt that more than a touch was needed to get the job done against Curci. Valero tried to take matters into his own hands but Curci still denied La Viola the opening goal which came shortly after when Joaquin kept on proving how that right wing position is his and his only by assisting Cuadrado to score from inside the box among 6 other Bologna players.

Luck was on Ilicic side when his long shot ended up in the back of the net after deflecting off of a Bologna player. The first half ended with a missed chance by Ilicic and a blocked Valero effort on the rebound. The second half started with a chance for each Cuadrado and Joaquin trying to score from the right side after amazing dribbles by both players but Curci denied as many balls from going in as the best of them could. After the hour mark, a usual dribble in the middle by Cuadrado followed by a long shot was too fast for Curci to save to increase the lead by three goals ending the match and leaving Fiorentina fans wondering how will Coppa Italia final be like without Cuadrado and Bologna fans wondering if they can ever get out of the relegation zone in the last three rounds.

Report Cards

Quotes

"It's a shame we won't have him for the Coppa Italia Final, as he is in optimal shape,"

"It is a pity, but we have other options and I have a lot of faith in my team. In terms of attitude we gave our all today, only suffering Bologna's vehement start in the opening minutes, as we always carried forward our principles of football."

"I have ideas for the Final, but the training sessions over the next week will decide the line-up. Will Rossi be ready for the World Cup? I honestly don't know. The knee injury has healed and that is important.

"He's finding match fitness and I think a month will be enough for him to find his form. Then Cesare Prandelli will make the decision, based also on the fitness levels of the other strikers."

Hi Lights

Statistics

Serie A Goals

Serie A card accumulation

What is next?

Next Saturday is the day our season is made, the injuries continue and neither Gomez nor Rossi will be playing. It is up for the midfielders to create as easy chances as possible to score from since even Cuadrado will not be playing due to yellow cards suspension. Napoli are 2 points away from consolidating third place and a relatively easy match is set on 6^th of May against Cagliari at the Sao Paolo. Inter dropped two point and are now 4 points behind Fiorentina with 9 points up for grabs for each team. The challenge for 6^th place however is among 5 teams. Fiorentina need 2 points to consolidate fifth place and two wins out of three matches to stay in fourth.

Sat May 3 2:45 ET Fiorentina v Napoli  - Coppa Italia (Final)
Sun May 6 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

Forza Viola!