The Viola missed to secure their coveted fourth place in Serie A. Palermo recorded a victory at the Stadio Artemio Franchi with 2-0.

It was the visitors who managed to take the lead at the outset of the second half. Frey made a fantastic reaction save on Miccoli from point-blank range after a failed clearance from Alessandro Gamberini, but he could do nothing on the rebound as Simplicio poked the ball over the line to open the scoring.

Fiorentina had number on the counter on 54 minutes, but substitute Franco Semioli’s shot-cross touched no one and went out for a goal-kick.

The home side were stunned as Palermo found the net again a minute later! Miccoli side-stepped a defender and fired a low shot into the bottom corner. It was an excellent goal from the diminutive striker, who had not struck since a 3-2 win over Atalanta on January 11.

Prandelli threw on some more offense by inserting on-loan striker Emiliano Bonazzoli, while Ballardini countered by shoring up his back line with young Simon Kajer replacing goal-scorer Miccoli.

The Sicilians were now content to spray around the ball with 20 minutes remaining, attempting to keep it away from a frustrated Fiorentina.

Mutu had been having an off evening, the Romanian international had shouts for a penalty on 75 minutes when he was allegedly brought down by Kjaer. There did seem to be some contact, but the striker had already lost control of the ball. Mutu hit back again soon after, his shot from the edge of the box was just wide with goalkeeper Amelia frozen. However, he was all-to-aware that time was running out.

The Rosanero had a few counter-attacking opportunities, but could not capitalize.

The star player for the home side only seemed to perk up in the late stages of the second half. Mutu and Kjaer clashed again after the Fiorentina striker chested the ball past Amelia. The young defender tackled Mutu from behind, but the referee pointed for a goal-kick. It was unlikely the 30-year-old would have scored from such a tight angle, but their were half-hearted appeals for a spot-kick.

Posted on March 10th, 2009 by Dan
Filed under: Uncategorized