After snapping a winless streak last time out against a hapless Hellas Verona, Fiorentina head north to Bologna for the Derby dell’Appenino, which has been a rather one-sided affair for the past decade. This time, though, the Viola were in desperate need of points to stave off relegation; the Felsinei, though, are also in the splash zone and weren’t ever going to go down easy.
With no shortage of storylines (former Viola boss Siniša Mihajlović and former/current players Nikola Kalinić, Marco Benassi, and Federico Ceccherini on one side and Sofyan Amrabat on the other) and a wet day, the conditions were always set for a sloppy game. To nobody’s surprise, both teams delivered.
Dušan Vlahović opened the scoring with a well-taken penalty before Emanuel Vignato played retired Padawan Rodrigo Palacio through to equalize. After a spectacular sliding finish from Giacomo Bonaventura restored the lead after halftime, the hosts pulled level again via Palacio, with Vignato again registering the assist. After Vlahović struck off a corner to take the lead for the third time, though, it was (who else?) Vignato setting up Palacio to leave the scores tied.
As usual, we’ve collected all our coverage right here, from previews to match threads to highlights to player grades to analysis. Hope you enjoy it, or at least don’t hate it.