In the Derby dell’Appennino, Fiorentina and Bologna faced each other in an attempt to distance themselves from the muddy waters of the relegation zone, but came up with a dull goalless draw that will be of little help to both sides.
Sinisa Mihajlovic’s Rossoblu were the ones to come closer to trouble the scorers but found a superb Bartlomiej Dragowski on their way. For Fiorentina, this was definitely a step back after their electrifying win at the Allianz Stadium from the last match-day.
There we no real surprises in the lineups as Cesare Prandelli remained loyal to his 3-5-2 formation with Franck Ribery and Dusan Vlahovic spearheading the attack. On the other hand, Mihajlovic proposed his usual 4-2-3-1 setup with Mitchell Dijks as a left back and Riccardo Orsolini in place of Nicola Sansone as right winger.
The match at the Artemio Franchi seemed off to a good start as Franck Ribery hit the back of the post after one minute and a half and Riccardo Orsolini replied with a lightning-fast goal that was however disallowed as he was caught offside.
After a impressive start, the two sides slowed down the tempo and started to study each other until an exchange between Nicolàs Dominguez and Musa Barrow ended with the Gambian striker volleying the ball not far from Bartlomiej Dragowski’s post.
Orsolini’s subsequent effort for Bologna also narrowly missed the target but gave quite a scare to the Viola‘s long-bearded goalkeeper. A German Pezzella defensive blunder offered another chance to the Rossoblu and this time Dragowski had to go one to one against Rodrigo Palacio to deny his effort.
Dragowski’s first-half show was not over: On 36 minutes, Barrow whipped a sudden right-foot shot towards the Viola goal, calling him to action once again, and immediately after the Polish’s timing was perfect as left the posts to defuse a Palacio counterattack.
There were no answers from Cesare Prandelli’s side who went into the break without causing any real problem to Mihajlovic’s backup goalkeeper Angelo Da Costa.
The second period was a much duller affair with neither side able to threaten the other again.
Fiorentina had to wait 12 more minutes before finally showing themselves around Bologna’s area. They did it with a long-range Borja Valero shot, though the outcome was not what the Spaniard might have expected. On 74 minutes, Gaetano Castrovilli tried with a volley from outside the box but still couldn’t hit the target.
Cesare Prandelli took off Borja Valero and replaced him with Giacomo Bonaventura, also substituting Dusan Vlahovic with Christian Kouamé. The Serbian didn’t seem to take it well and him throwing a water bottle away was the most exciting thing seen in the whole second half.
For Bologna, Sinisa Mihajlovic also rotated a few of his men to no avail as Dragowski had a much easier task than in the first period. A nil-nil draw was the inevitable outcome and the one point gained by each side won’t make either feel any safer.