Viola: That'll Do
(Look, Pazzini! Not being a dick!)
Yesterday's match wasn't explosively fantastic or anything, but it was a great way to come home, and to bounce back from Wednesday's listless loss at Napoli. Fiorentina looked good for a lot of the game, dominating possession even before Mutarelli was sent off, but doing that worrying Inter/Milan thing where they keep the ball forever but never actually put it on goal.
Even after the sending off, though, Fiorentina didn't exactly have Lazio pinned back in their end -- the Romans countered frequently and well, and Pandev was always dangerous; it was only thanks to a Frey-esque reflex save by emergency keeper Vlada Avramov that Pandev didn't put Lazio ahead midway through the second half.
La Viola finally broke through in the 77th minute during a shoot frenzy in the Lazio box. Instead of slamming the ball into the defense like everyone else was, Liverani (who was awesome) touched it out wide to Pazzini, who finished with shocking accuracy just inside the post. Woo hoo!
Fiorentina 1 - 0 Lazio
Pazzini 77 (F); Sent off: Mutarelli 37 (L)
Fiorentina: Avramov; Jorgensen (Potenza 20), Ujfalusi, Kroldrup, Gobbi; Donadel (Kuzmanovic 66), Liverani, Montolivo; Santana, Vieri (Pazzini 55), Mutu
Lazio: Ballotta; De Silvestri, Rozenhal, Siviglia, Kolarov; Dabo (Meghni 70), Ledesma, Mutarelli; Mauri (Mudingayi 46); Rocchi (Bianchi 61), Pandev
Before the match started, Osvi took some time to pose for the cameras.
Notice that the cameraman had time to walk around him and take pictures from BOTH SIDES. The whore.
Hello, ladies.
(That was for you, Marie.)
Finally Osvi went to change out of his turtleneck, and the tifosi got themselves ready to play, as well.
Not in the team: Papa and Dainelli.
Cesare smelled something funny, but wouldn't be deterred from leading his team to VICTORY!
&hearts &hearts &hearts &hearts &hearts &hearts
So, right before the match, there was a late, seriously panic-making change to the team:
Seb warmed up but then got sick, and Avramov did his customary, clinging hug of desperation when he got the news.
Breath, Vlada. Breath.
He totally played it cool, acting like he wasn't panicking on the inside.
He didn't have much to do, but was awesome when called upon -- that save on Pandev was insane.
(Notice the iron-on number. Definitely put on 30 seconds before the match.)
"My (new, temporary) people!"
Bobo got the start.
Sweet Bobo.
The good news is that his hair seems to be grown very quickly. I am clinging to this lie observation.
The bad news is that he and Mutu are just incapable of playing together right now, for some reason.
Bobo knows this. It makes him sad.
He came off early in the second half. Cesare was sorry, but even Bobo understood.
Somebody needs a Bobohug.
Jorgy also went off really early, but in his case it was because he was hurt, not useless.
He aggravated a leg problem, but hopefully it's not too bad -- he asked off right away, and is getting tests tomorrow.
(Jorgy, happily, has not cut his hair. Bobo could learn something from this man.)
Mutarelli (AKA My Lazio Commie) -- seen above hustling Jorgy -- was sent off late in the first half for two yellows within about two seconds.
That helped a lot.
Gobbi was his first victim -- it was a pretty thunderous tackle.
No worries, though, he got up and soldiered on, putting in his second solid game in a row.
He also quite reliably hot, which is nice to have when Osvi doesn't play. (Notice, though: More shiny legs.)
The Commie's second victim was Liverani, but since the only pictures of him are when he's celebrating with Pazzini, we'll need to move on to the princess.
Pazzini came on for Bobo early in the second half and immediately made a big difference.
Even before he scored, he hit the bar with a header when the Viola were hanging around the Lazio goal.
And then this happened.
It was a great, great finish -- Pazzini miraculously put the ball exactly where it had to be, and snuck it just inside the post.
OMG YAY!
Pazzini trying to look hard = slightly hilarious.
GOD I hate the eye-pointing.
Eventually he stopped running around, and went to find his peeps.
Or, more accurately, one peep in particular.
Hel-LO Osvi!
Finally he managed to drag himself away from the one made of porn sex, and turned to Liverani, the guy who made the goal.
Awwwwwwww.
They screamed joyously in one another faces for a while, which was very cute.
And, as much as it continues to boggle my mind, everyone really seems to like him. I'm trying to get better. Really, I am.
(RAWR!)
MUTU (and the baby Serb)!
He was solid, if not spectacular.
He was busy, though, and involved with all of Fiorentina useful moves.
Plus, he got to touch the Commie, which would make anyone's day pretty good.
(Not cheating.)
(Old man Ballotta's still got it.)
There was also a bit of Ledesma action, which got very intense when Lazio failed to play the ball out when an Viola player was down.
There was grabbing of shirts, lots of angry discussion, two yellow cards, and a lot of drool (at least in my house). By which I mean: Nnnnnnnngh.
Also, there was some Monty action.
He was pretty good -- really active, and not at all asleep.
(The life of a footballer is hard -- don't you forget it!)
A few other people did play, though the photographs would suggest otherwise.
Potenza came on for Jorgy and, well, didn't fuck anything up.
Donadel was there, too, for a while.
Mmm ... Mutarelli.
Kroldrup was awesome.
Hopefully he was good enough to keep Dainelli on the bench for a while, because Krol's much less of a liability right now.
Ujfi playing alongside him in the middle, and they did really, really well together.
We all know Rocchi's a beast, but Ujfi kept him pretty much under control.
SANTANA!
He played the whole match but was pretty disappointing -- didn't do much but score this (offside) goal.
(Woes.)
It was all good, though -- Cesare is very happy with a 1-0 result.
"Grazie, tifosi!"
"What he said."
(Krol = Fiorentina's Burdisso, the one who strips at the slightest provocation.)
Aw, look -- Pazzini's sister came to the match! (No word on whether she got his shirt or not.)
Cesare gave the team two days off for Easter/sleeping/sitting in a whirlpool; they'll be back in training Tuesday to prepare for this weekend's massive trip to Udinese.