Fiorentina and Empoli played out to a 1-1 draw in the Tuscan derby at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Sunday afternoon.
Juan Vargas opened the scoring for the home side with an exquisite volley which enlightened a rather uneventful first half, while Lorenzo Tonelli drew the visitors level in the second half in what was a deserved share of the points as neither team really looked committed to wining this contest.
Borja Valero should have opened the scoring in the 14th minute mark when he headed over an open goal. Juan Curadrdo came close shortly after but Fiorentina generally laboured in the first half, controlling possession but never really coming close to scoring.
Francesco Tavano squandered a golden opportunity to open proceedings for the away side midway through the first half after he was put through on goal by a sloppy Viola back pass.
Five minutes later he was presented with an almost identical effort, but that too was rushed and ended up amongst the home supporters in the Curva Fiesole.
At the other end Mario Gomez was denied by a brilliant save from Luigi Sepe but the first half largely begun the way it stared.
The break through did eventually arrive on the stroke of half time as Juan Vargas smashed home a volley from his teams corner kick to brighten what was an exceptionally tedious first half.
Empoli looked ripe for the taking at the start of the second 45 minutes but once again the hosts failed to capitalise upon the opportunities that were presented to them.
The visitors took full advantage of this profligacy when in the 57th minute Lorenzo Tonelli rose highest above the Viola defence to header home an equaliser.
It was Empoli who almost took the lead on the hour mark when it took a goal line header from Stefan Savic to prevent the smaller Tuscan side from embarrassing their big city cousins.
Just like in the first half Fiorentina continued to control possession, but they did very little with their dominance. Indeed it was the visitors who looked the more dangerous side when the broke up field.
As the second half progressed it seemed like neither side really wanted to win the contest and clear cut chances were few and far between. Vincenzo Montella clearly saw this and replaced forward Mario Gomez with ten minutes to go.
The German international had been pretty anonymous throughout the match as he continued to struggle for form after returning from injury.
As the match entered the closing stages it looked as if both teams had already settled for a point a piece as neither side really looked committed for going for the jugular.
