Fiorentina drew 1-1 with Napoli at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Monday evening’s Serie A fixture.
The first half exploded into action, with fans barely settled into their seats by the time the ball first hit the back of the net courtesy of Marcos Alonso, before Gonzalo Higuain equalised within a blink of an eye.
Fiorentina pressed high up the pitch and were gifted a corner just four minutes into the game after Marcos Alonso pressured Jose Callejon to head the ball out of play, following an impressive run. The left-wing back was then rewarded with a goal from the immediate corner, as he leapt high in the air to place his header past Pepe Reina.
However, a horror clearance from Alonso then cost his side the lead just seconds after scoring. Flailing in front of goal, he sliced his clearance right into the path of Gonzalo Higuain, who calmly drove the ball past Ciprian Tatarusana less than 10 seconds from kick-off.
The tempo didn’t calm down there, as the home crowd’s chants drove Fiorentina even further up the pitch with the hope of restoring their one goal advantage, Alonso continuing to pile on the pressure and cause the visitors to suffer.
Nikola Kalinic squandered a chance to make it 2-1 as he struck the bar after being released on the break only for Cristian Tello to then smack his shot against the opposite side of the woodwork a matter of minutes later, having completely beaten Reina.
A smart break from Callejon almost saw the visitors take a shock lead in the second half, though two quick-fire saves from Tatarusanu denied Callejon a rare chance at goal, whilst brilliantly throwing himself in-front of Higuain’s follow up.
Tireless work from Matias Fernandez and Tello ensured the Viola climbed back on top and the high intensity made for an extremely tight finish.
Higuain thought he found the winning goal five minutes from time, only to be ruled offside as he wheeled away in celebration. A late save from Tatarusanu on Lorenzo Insigne then denied the Partenopei once more and ensure either side left the match with a point each.
