Frosinone 1-1 Fiorentina: Recap and player ratings

Pre-Match

Frosinone went with Daniel Ciofani up top with Rai Vloet and Joel Campbell supporting the striker. Kevin Mirallas dropped out and was replaced by Marko Pjaca who was back into the side.

First Half

Frosinone had the ball in the back of the net early on as a low corner was met by Rai Vloet who rifled it brilliantly into the top corner. However, there was a clear foul in the build-up as Giovanni Simeone was pushed to the ground.

Simeone had the first chance of the game as he did brilliantly to get past his man. He used his strength as he got past Joel Campbell to get through on goal. On the angle, he just couldn’t beat Sportiello, who stood firm to deny his former teammate. The ball rebounded to Federico Chiesa, but he couldn’t get the ball under control to get the shot away.

It’s easy to feel for Simeone who just needs one to go hit the back of the net in any way so he can get back to his goal-scoring ways that we saw last season.

Cristiano Biraghi almost scored a fine from a free-kick 25 yards out. His effort was well saved by Sportiello who dove well to his right and denied the left back from opening the scoring.

Frosinone had the best chance of the half so far as Marco Capuano was inches away from getting the first goal. The ball was crossed in and it looked as if the centre back was going to put his side in front.

Marko Pjaca did brilliantly and had a great chance to create a goal as he breezed past Andrea Beghetto. Chiesa and Simeone were waiting for the cross but selfishly he shot when a cross would have been the smarter option.

Fiorentina must have been wondering how on earth it wasn’t 1-0 to the Viola. Biraghi put in a delicious ball to the back post which hit off Beghetto and struck the post. However, with VAR, even if it did go in it might have been wiped out due to a push on the Frosinone man from Pjaca.

Again, Fiorentina had a chance to break the deadlock as Chiesa’s cross found Pjaca, who laid it off to Benassi to strike. His effort was dragged just wide as Sportiello was well beaten.

Second Half

90 seconds into the second half Fiorentina took the lead through top scorer Benassi. Chiesa did fantastic down the left and crossed it to the near post where he found the midfielder, who headed it past Sportiello who was finally beaten.

It was Fiorentina’s 11th shot of the game and was the perfect start to the half and no doubt Stefano Pioli will have been delighted with his side’s start to the second period.

Benassi is even with Gonzalo Higuain on five goals this season and only two behind Cristiano Ronaldo. I’m sure the club is expecting a bid in excess of €80 million any day now.

Despite taking an early second-half lead Fiorentina seemed relatively content with just the one goal advantage and tried to be patient offensively.

Frosinone had Lafont beaten as Francesco Zampano’s shot was deflected and whistled just past the post. It was a warning sign that Frosinone were far from out of the game.

On the counter, Fiorentina wasted the chance to kill the game. It was three against two and Simeone passed to Jordan Veretout, but it was behind the Frenchman who had to turn to shoot. His strike was straight at Sportiello who saved well. The Argentine should have played it to Chiesa who was in space and looked the better option.

Sportiello, having one of the best games in Serie A, = was again brilliant as Chiesa did so well to beat his man and struck it low; it looked as if the keeper was beaten but he managed to get fingertips to his effort.

Substitute Kevin Mirallas had been heavily involved since he was brought in and almost scored. Veretout put in a fine ball from the right and was met by the Belgian whose effort was blocked.

This game should have been completely out of sight, but Andrea Pinamonti, on loan from Inter Milan, unleashed a rocket which Lafont couldn’t keep out. From 30 plus yards, it was a brilliant strike from the forward.

Post Match

Sigh, there's just something not right with the club at this moment in time. Fiorentina are winless away and couldn't even beat Frosinone, who are 19th in Serie A. Questions have to be asked of Pioli, as he’s simply not getting enough of his players. Fiorentina should have won this game by a 3-4 goal cushion, there were countless chances to seal the points but the finishing was poor and the Viola were met by a keeper in inspired form.

Player ratings

Alban Lafont: 6- Didn’t have a lot to do at all and couldn’t really do much about their goal.

Nikola Milenkovic: 6- Solid game from the fullback who dealt with his man.

German Pezzella: 7- Had a good game and marshalled the attack well.

Vitor Hugo: 6- Was sloppy at times and gifted the ball to Frosinone on occasions.

Cristiano Biraghi: 7- Brilliant going forward, is one of the key threats in this team.

Jordan Veretout: 7- Kept things ticking over really well and got more involved going forward which was nice to see.

Gerson: 6- Not brilliant, but not terrible either. Needs to do a bit more in my opinion.

Marco Benassi: 7- Made some great runs into the box and took his goal really well.

Marko Pjaca: 6- Showed flashes of what and he’s capable of and looked a lot better than he has in previous weeks. There is still something missing, but promising signs.

Federico Chiesa: 8- Superb game from The Viola talisman, don't want to know where the Fiorentina team would be without him.

Giovanni Simeone: 5- Looked frustrated and a player lacking in confidence.

Bench:

Edimilson Fernandes: 6- Didn’t contribute much since coming on.

Kevin Mirallas: 6.5- Made a good impact since coming on, wouldn't be surprised if he started in front of Simeone next game.

Dusan Vlahovic- n/a Wasn’t on enough to make an impact.