Siena 0 : 0 Fiorentina - All square in Tuscan derby

Posted Tuesday, December 20, 2011 by PA

Siena and Fiorentina shared the spoils in a keenly-contested Tuscan derby which ended goalless at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

Siena came closest to breaking the deadlock with Emanuele Calaio hitting the crossbar in the first half, but the fact there were five yellow cards on either side illustrates how competitive the game was.

The result does not help either club, who remain in the bottom half of the table, but at least Siena end a sequence of four defeats.

Alberto Gilardino was surprisingly left on the bench by Fiorentina coach Delio Rossi, who preferred Alessio Cerci, Stevan Jovetic and Juan Vargas in his attack.

Franco Brienza and Emanuele Calaio led the Siena attack and they had more joy early on as the home side started stronger.

Calaio bravely headed Brienza's cross onto the crossbar in the 28th minute as Fiorentina came under pressure.

The visitors' response came from Jovetic, whose volley on the turn was pushed away by Zeljko Brkic a minute before the break.

Calaio just missed the target with a header in the 55th minute and this appeared to shake the Viola into action.

Valon Behrami just failed to turn Vargas' cross on target before Alessandro Gamberini had two efforts saved, the first by Brkic and the second by Brienza, who headed the ball wide of the post he was guarding from a corner.

It was Siena's turn to respond and Gaetano D'Agostino's free-kick brought a fine save out of Artur Boruc, who had to be equally alert to save Calaio's volley in the 86th minute.

Jovetic had the last chance deep in stoppage time, but he blazed his shot over the crossbar from 20 yards.