Fiorentina 1-1 Napoli: Final score and highlights

Pre-match

Both Fiorentina and Napoli stumbled into this match looking to get back on track. Paolo Sousa surprised Viola fans by starting Federico Bernardeschi on the bench in favor of Matias Fernandez and Cristian Tello, a move that would end up paying off.

First half

Fiorentina immediately took control with aggressive pressing, which would pay off 6 minutes in when Marcos Alonso opened scoring by deflecting a Borja Valero cross into the back post with a header.

Unfortunately the lead would only last a minute, as Alonso went from hero to goat by turning the ball over directly to Gonzalo Higuain, who would score easily after Ciprian Tatarusanu was out of position.

Fiorentina would rebound and control the first half. The trio of Tello, Mati, and Borja would continuously press Napoli, who were contend to sit deep and wait for counters. For a while it looked to be Kalidou Koulibaly vs Fiorentina. Nikola Kalinic should have made it 2-1 about 32 minutes in, but the ball deflected off the crossbar. Soon after, Tello, after a brilliant run, continued the bad luck - unfortunately everything but finishing went right for the Catalan winger.

Second half

The second half started much like the first, with Fiorentina domination, and not much to show for it. After about 60 minutes, Mati, Tello, and Matias Vecino in particular started to tire, and Napoli fought their way into the match. After a poor play by Gonzalo Rodriguez, Jose Callejon almost got his traditional goal against us, only to be stopped by a ridiculous double save by Tata, who would spend the last 30 minutes redeeming himself for his first half mistake.

Federico Bernardeschi was subbed on for Mati just before the 70 minute mark. Josip Ilicic was also given a last minute cameo in an attempt for one last push, but the last 20 minutes saw Napoli as the better team.

Full time

While both teams will rue lost chances, and the draw hurts both teams more than it helps, this was an entertaining match that reminded us why these are two of the most fun teams in Serie A, if for very different reasons. Tello in particular showed he deserves more playing time, but poor finishing is once again becoming a problem.