Spirited Spezia halt Fiorentina's winning run
Spezia had scored just eight away league goals prior to the start of the game, but the Eagles were showing a lot of attacking intent at the start of the game as they looked to improve that figure. They thought they had done just that in the 20th minute when Angolan striker M’bala Nzola tapped home from a cross but the forward’s goal was ruled out by VAR for an offside in the build up.
Fiorentina came into the game on a high after a 2-0 Coppa Italia semi-final first-leg victory over Cremonese, that extended their nine-match winning run across all competitions. Spezia’s disallowed goal seemed to give life to La Viola as they took the lead just five minutes later when Cristiano Biraghi’s attempted cross hit Przemysław Wiśniewski before finding its way in at the far post. However, Fiorentina’s lead only lasted six minutes, as Nzola finally got his goal. The Angolan won the ball after pressuring the Fiorentina defence before rounding the keeper and slotting home to bring Spezia level.
La Viola came out for the second half playing on the front foot as they looked to take the lead, and they went close to doing so 15 minutes after the restart when Josip Brekalo latched onto a long pass into the box but his powerful effort struck the post. Fiorentina continued to dominate the game and went close again just eight minutes later, when substitute Nicolás González struck a vicious free-kick that looked destined for the top corner, only to be denied by an excellent save from Bartłomiej Drągowski.
Semplici’s men managed to hold on to secure a point to extend their gap from the relegation places to seven points as the Eagles look to secure a fourth consecutive season in the top-flight. Meanwhile, Fiorentina’s assault on the top six faltered with the gap currently at seven points, La Viola’s most likely path to European football now looks to be through the UEFA Conference League, with the first-leg of their quarter-final tie against Lech Poznań coming up next week.
Flashscore Man of the Match: M’bala Nzola (Spezia)
