Cesena and Empoli battled to a 2-2 draw at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi in Serie A action on Saturday evening.
The home side took a commanding lead thanks to first half goals from Guido Marilungo and Gregoire Defrel, but a thunderous second half comeback saw the Tuscan side go home with a point thanks to a penalty from Francesco Tavano and a close range strike from Daniele Rugani.
The first chance fell to the away side when Rugani found himself alone in the penalty area from a corner kick, but Nicola Leali did well to stop the defender’s header.
The Azzurri once again threatened in the 14th minute as Simone Verdi found some space in the middle of the pitch before sending his venomous left footed strike just wide of goal.
Stefano Lucchini responded for the hosts after 23 minutes as the defender sent his shot just over the crossbar from close range.
The home side nearly opened the scoring in the 27th minute when Franco Brienza found Marilungo in the penalty area, but the forward saw his effort cleared off the line by an attentive Luigi Sepe.
The forward would not be denied three minutes later when Sepe did well to deny a Brienza shot, however the rebound fell to Marilungo whose first effort hit the crossbar before heading home to make the score 1-0.
The home side made it 2-0 soon after when Defrel unleashed a stinging left footed drive from 25 yards out to beat an outstretched Sepe.
The two sides returned for the second half of play and it was Empoli who looked the more dangerous, and their efforts were rewarded with a penalty in the 53rd minute when Verdi was taken down in the penalty area by Lucchini.
Up stepped talisman Tavano and he coolly sent his shot to the right of Leali to cut Cesena’s lead to 2-1.
Empoli nearly drew level in the 70th minute when Leali did well to put Verdi’s looping effort just over the crossbar.
The Tuscan side would be rewarded with an equalizer two minutes later when Leali got his hands on to a short corner, only to see his parried effort fall to Rugani who made no mistake to level the score at 2-2.
Cesena nearly stole all three points in the 90th minute when Francesco Renzetti’s free kick was deflected by Marilungo and saved on the line by Sepe.
It would prove the final chance of the evening as both sides went home with a point as Cesena now sit on four points while Empoli finally register their first positive result of the season.
Follow Adriano Boin on Twitter: @Boin44
