Cesena 2 : 2 Fiorentina - Cesena drop despite draw

Posted Sunday, April 03, 2011 by PA

Fabio Caserta grabbed a late equaliser for Cesena but could not prevent them dropping into the Serie A relegation zone with a 2-2 draw at Stadio Dino Manuzzi.

The home side had taken the lead from Luis Jimenez's free-kick but Alberto Gilardino and Riccardo Montolivo replied to give Fiorentina the lead.

Caserta struck with just three minutes remaining to secure a share of the spoils, but Lecce's win over Udinese means Cesena drop into the bottom three.

Cesena had a great early chance but Guiseppe Colucci missed his kick when presented with a simple third-minute opportunity.

But they took a deserved lead when Jimenez curled a delightful free-kick just inside the left post of Artur Boruc's goal.

Fiorentina piled on the pressure in search of a response with Francesco Antonioli making a fine save from Gilardino before acrobatically tipping Cesare Natali's close-range header on to the post.

But the keeper's resistance was broken when Gilardino headed between his legs to level 10 minutes before the break.

The pressure from La Viola continued after the break as the overworked Antonioli kept out Adrian Mutu's firm shot before Natali struck the bar.

Emanuele Giaccherini could have put Cesena back in front but fired over before Fiorentina surged ahead in the 69th minute.

Mario Santana's excellent pass picked out Montolivo, who made no mistake to slot home.

Erjon Bogdani thought he had levelled but the Albanian's effort was ruled out for offside. Minutes later Caserta saw his shot deflect off Alessandro Gamberini to deceive Boruc and secure a point.

And former Celtic keeper Boruc needed to make a great late save from Bogdani to prevent the hosts stealing the points.