Despite the best efforts of Fiorentina to rescue their dreams of the Champions League, in the end -- and I mean, the end -- it was Roma that came away from the Franchi with all three points. The Viola had the majority of the chances and even had a credible penalty shout waved away, but they were made to pay for their wastefulness. It was Pablo Osvaldo doing the punishing, knocking in a header in extra time.
Fiorentina vs Roma, final score 0-1: Visitors deflate Viola’s Champions League hopes
Despite a plethora of chances, Fiorentina couldn’t manage to find a goal. Instead, Pablo Osvaldo’s stoppage-time header gave Roma all three points, putting a downer on the Viola’s Champions League hopes.
For the majority of the match, Fiorentina were in control. Although a Francesco Totti free kick forced Emiliano Viviano into a great save before five minutes had passed, by the 30th minute, Roma looked to be out of ideas. Juan Cuadrado and Adem Ljajic were dictating the Viola play, manipulating space and getting the ball into dangerous positions.
So, when Fiorentina picked up the pace and pressure immediately after the restart, it looked like all three points would be theirs. With about thirty minutes left to play, Roma were sweating bullets. Ljajic saw a terrific shot saved by Mauro Goicoechea, on for Bogdan Lobont after the latter fractured his nose in the first half. Just after that, David Pizarro put a shot just wide, Alberto Aquilani saw his attempt blocked, and Cuadrado put a ball over the crossbar.
The Viola gave a good shout for a penalty in the 77th minute, when Ljajic’s shot collided with Daniele De Rossi. It appeared the Roma man had used his arm to direct the ball (very nearly into his own net, too) but the referee shook his head and play continued.
Just after the end of normal time, Pizarro got on the end of a pass from Ljajic and let off a sharp shot, rattling the woodwork. Roma took advantage of Fiorentina's equally rattled heads, grabbing possession and sprinting toward Viviano's goal. The Viola managed to shut down a shot from substitute Miralem Pjanic, but they could do nothing when Osvaldo rose above the defense to head in a corner.
Fiorentina:Emiliano Viviano, Manuel Pasqual, Marvin Compper, Gonzalo Rodríguez, Nenad Tomovic, Borja Valero, David Pizarro, Alberto Aquilani (Matías Fernández, Adem Ljajic, Stevan Jovetic (Luca Toni 71), Juan Cuadrado
AS Roma:Bogdan Lobont (Mauro Goicoechea 46), Vasilis Torosidis, Nicolas Burdisso, Leandro Castán, Federico Balzaretti, Michael Bradley, Daniele De Rossi, Erik Lamela (Miralem Pjanic 63), Francesco Totti, Alessandro Florenzi (Marquinhos 74) Pablo Osvaldo
Goals: Osvaldo 90+ (R)
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