After being held 2-2 by lowly Sassuolo, Vladimir Petkovic made five changes to his Lazio side, bringing in Lorik Cana, Senad Lulic, Lucas Biglia, Felipe Anderson and Bryan Perea for Andre Dias, Bruno Pereirinha, Cristian Ledesma, Ederson and Sergio Floccari. In the other dugout, Vincenzo Montella made four changes from the side that drew 2-2 with Parma last weekend, introducing Nenad Tomovic, Manuel Pasqual, Massimo Ambrosini and Juan Cuadrado for Facundo Roncaglia, Marcos Alonso, Rafal Wolski and Joaquin.
Lazio vs. Fiorentina, final score 0-0: Scoreless in the capital
Lazio and Fiorentina played out a 0-0 draw, with neither side really showing any major threat.
In the opening minutes both sides struggled to establish themselves, with neither able to string together a coherent passage of play. The first chance went to the visiting side, Manuel Pasqual crossing towards Borja Valero however Federico Marchetti was able to cut it out to avert the danger.
Two minutes later and Lazio had a chance of their own, Bryan Perea dispossessing David Pizarro in midfield and surging forward, turning Gonzalo Rodriguez before firing just wide.
Lazio began to take hold of game in midfield however the Fiorentina defence was standing up to it and the only chances that presented themselves were shots from distance, Hernanes whipping a free-kick wide and Antonio Candreva firing well over from 25 yards.
The second half continued as the first with neither side showing a great deal of threat. A rare Fiorentina chance came when Alberto Aquilani was fouled by Michael Ciani and Manuel Pasqual hit the free-kick just over from at least 30 yards.
Just after the hour mark, another set piece chance presented itself to the visitors, Giuseppe Rossi’s free kick parried away from danger by Marchetti in the Lazio goal.
As in the first half, Lazio had the majority of the ball but chances were again few and far between, Hernanes forcing a save from Neto in the Viola goal after a neat run and shot.
Into the final ten minutes, Antonio Candreva hit another long-range effort just wide after the movement on the ball deceived Neto and substitute Sergio Floccari had the best chance of all with four minutes remaining. Hernanes reached the bye-line and crossed in low for the approaching striker however his shot from four yards was instinctively deflected over by Neto, not that the Brazilian goalkeeper knew much about it.
In the end, the draw was the fairest result as although Lazio had slightly more of the match, they posed little threat and a goal wasn’t really deserved on either side.
Lazio: Marchetti; Cavanda, Ciani, Cana, Lulic; Biglia, Hernanes (Ederson 87), Onazi (Gonzalez 83); Candreva, Felipe Anderson (Floccari 58), Perea
Fiorentina: Neto; Tomovic, Rodriguez, Savic, Pasqual; Ambrosini, Aquilani, Pizarro (Ryder Matos 73); Valero, Cuadrado (Iakovenko 83), Rossi (Vargas 63)
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