Palermo v Fiorentina: Revitalized Rosanero

By: Martha | December 8th, 2007

Don’t fuck with Miccoli. That was a ridiculously exciting match with each team dominating a half, but Palermo deserved the three points for their a wonderful all-round performance.

From the start, the Rosanero were on the attack, and Fabrizio Miccoli looked wildly dangerous on his return from injury. He basically ran free in the midfield, picking the ball up all over the pitch and unsettling the Viola everywhere he went, including when he was standing over free kicks. When the visitors did get hold of the ball, they simply played it long over the top, which did nothing but give Giampaolo Pazzini chances to moan, and Palermo an invitation to push forward again.

The breakthrough, when it finally came, was spectacular: Amauri intercepted a pass with his chest, ran onto the deflection and played it forward out of the air, looking away as he did it and totally befuddling the Fiorentina defense. The result was that Miccoli was in alone with miles of space around him, and he chipped the ball over a sliding Sebastian Frey to put Palermo into the lead. Fiorentina did have a couple of chances — one of Ricardo Montolivo’s long-range shots actually forced a save out of Jimmy Fontana, and an Adrian Mutu header was capture near the line — but the half belonged to the hosts, and the lead could have been doubled were it not for a couple characteristically sick Frey saves.

Starting the second half, Cesare Prandelli threw on Franco Semioli for Fabio Liverani; his presence, along with the earlier substitution of Mario Alberto Santana for an injured Alessandro Potenza, made the Viola an insanely attacking side (on paper it was 4-4-2, but in reality it was more like 4-2-4, and 2-2-6 when they got really excited), and they immediately took control of the half. Fiorentina were all over the Rosanero and, finally playing the ball to feet and knocking it around, they looked sharp and dangerous. Palermo’s defense, though, was more than up to the task, and played virtually flawlessly despite the constant pressure. For the first time in what seems like ages, Andrea Barzagli stepped up and played great, leading the team and getting crucial touches over and over again. (Perhaps the supporter talk about finding a new captain woke up him?) The Viola had nothing to show for their dominance and were getting frustrated, while the hosts took their chances to counter by marauding into the space in the Fiorentina half, and could have been up three or four were it not for the genius of Frey.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors 20 minutes from time, when Alessandro Gamberini was forced off with a leg injury and couldn’t be replaced because Prandelli had already used all his subs. The Viola continued to attack, but their desperation turned into sloppiness, and being a man down made the space at the back even more inviting; eventually, Fabio Simplicio, who was absolutely on fire throughout the match, skipped through the tired defense and beat Frey one-on-one, salting the game away in the 81st minute.

A(nother) painful loss for the Viola, who are now down to 2.4 healthy defenders, and a fantastic, revitalizing win for the Rosanero that wipes away much of the pain of the loss to Catania, and moves them up (for a few hours) to joint-sixth in the table.