Fiorentina 1 : 1 Lecce - Spot of bother for Di Michele

Posted Sunday, January 23, 2011 by PA

Fiorentina had to battle for a 1-1 draw after a superb first-half display by relegation-threatened Lecce left them under the cosh.

David Di Michele put the hosts ahead shortly before the half-hour mark and missed the chance to double the lead from the penalty spot before the interval.

But the Viola had the better of the second period and Alberto Gilardino's header ensured a share of the spoils.

The hosts started brightly and Adem Ljajic and Gaetano D'Agostino were both narrowly off target in the opening five minutes.

But they were on the back foot for the rest of the half as Di Michele led a string of Lecce attacks.

He shot narrowly wide from the edge of the box after a fast counter-attack sparked by Ruben Olivera and saw a header from Gianni Munari's cross saved by keeper Artur Boruc.

Di Michele was not to be denied in the 29th minute, though, when his left-footed effort from the edge of the box found the bottom corner of Boruc's goal.

It should have been 2-0 five minutes before half-time when Di Michele was fouled by Manuel Pasqual, earning the defender a yellow card. He picked himself up to take the spot-kick himself but his effort rebounded to safety off the crossbar.

Fiorentina looked to have been spurred into life during the interval by coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, and Per Kroldrup fired high and wide just two minutes in.

They were level in the 56th minute, Riccardo Montolivo's free-kick headed home from close range by Gilardino.

Montolivo went for goal directly from his next set piece, but his 30-yard drive flew wide.

Alessio Cerci replaced the midfielder but fared similarly with a long-range effort of his own before Lecce's Guillermo Giacomazzi also thrashed a long-range effort wide.

Both teams could have won the game late on, Mario Santana firing narrowly over the Lecce crossbar before Boruc denied Di Michele.

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