Everyone expected the Inter vs. Milan derby to be an epic showdown, but ironically Serie A’s biggest entertainment this week-end came from Genoa vs. Fiorentina. Although to be fair to both teams, this match had already been anticipated as a “Champions League” battle: a showdown between 4^th and 5^th-placed usually always gives rise to interesting results.

But who on Earth could have predicted six goals and one of the most dramatic come-backs of the year, an equalizer deep into stoppage time and everything. Not only that, but the added bonus of a “hero” (these matches usually have at least one): the one and only Super Adrian Mutu who marked a top-notch performance with the first hat-trick of his Italian career.

The match immediately started well for the hosts, who in minute 12 put themselves in the lead thanks to a beautiful Diego Milito-Thiago Motta combination, well finalized by the ex-Barcelona midfielder past Sebastien Frey. 1-0 Genoa. Fiorentina responded with a long-range blast by Mutu just slightly over the bar, but really started to smile when Biava‘s reckless foul on Jovetic earned the Rossoblu defender his second yellow of the game.

You would think that with over 60 minutes left to play with a one-man advantage, Fiorentina would easily take this game by the reins and overturn their score deficit. Not so. After a few scoring chances down Rubinho’s end (one of which a Gilardino deflection saved on the line by Marco Rossi), it was actually Genoa who would double their lead in almost surreal/spectacular fashion. Everything stemmed from a fantastic run forward by Giandomenico Mesto, as the Rossoblu wing-back eluded all of his markers and provided a cushy ball for Raffaele Palladino on the left post. Unmissable chance and 2-0 Genoa, with Prandelli blowing a gasket on the sidelines for the horrid defensive work.

Fiorentina’s last-ditch assaults through Gilardino and Kuzmanovic were fruitless, and the half ended on a very surprising 2-0 scoreline. Certainly their manager’s half-time speech would need to have a big “kick-in-the-ass” effect if the Viola wanted to take anything from this game. Gasperini on the other hand, was very content with the current scoreline and decided to patch up his defensive leaks: exit Palladino (a striker), enter Milanetto (a midfielder), with Criscito dropping further down the field in defense. 3-4-2 formation in other words, ready to weather the imminent Viola storm.

And storm it seemed to be, with Jovetic (twice), Comotto, and Kuzmanovic repeatedly trying to break the Rossoblu defenses (still without any success). Incredibly however, another twist in the plot of this crazy match (Gamberini foul on Diego Milito inside the box) brought Genoa to score a third: the Argentine forward converted the spot-kick (3-0 Genoa) and seemed to virtually seal the visitors’ fate today.

Game over? Far from it. Fiorentina didn’t even have time to digest the scoreline because they immediately obtained a chance to reduce it: a foul on Gilardino inside the box meant another PK, this time for Adrian Mutu and the opportunity to make it 3-1 (which he did). 10-men Genoa were now pushed back to the ropes, the assaults on Rubinho’s net continued: Jovetic obtained a foul on the edge, Mutu converted the free-kick. 3-2 with 10 minutes to go plus stoppage. La Viola really started to believe in it.

With good reason. On virtually the last play of the game, a few deflected shots inside the Genoa box ended up to Mutu again, whose inswinging effort cleared the hands of Rubinho and slammed into the net. 3-3 in the most dramatic of fashions, and what incredible entertainment from Stadio Luigi Ferraris today.

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	GENOA-FIORENTINA 3-3 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 12′ Thiago Motta (G), 38′ Palladino (G), 56’ pen. D.Milito (G), 60’ pen, 80’, 94’ Mutu (F).
GENOA (3-4-3): Rubinho – Biava, Ferrari, Bocchetti – M.Rossi (77’ Vanden Borre), Thiago Motta, Juric, Criscito – Mesto (69’ Papastathopoulos), D.Milito, Palladino (46’ Milanetto). (bench: Scarpi, Modesto, Jankovic, Olivera). Coach: Gasperini
FIORENTINA (4-3-1-2): Frey – Comotto (77’ Bonazzoli), Gamberini, Dainelli, Vargas – Kuzmanovic (53’ Semioli), Donadel, Montolivo – Jovetic – Gilardino, Mutu (bench: Storari, Zauri, Kroldrup, Pasqual, Gobbi). Coach: Prandelli

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Tags: Adrian Mutu, Cesare Prandelli, Diego Milito, Fiorentina, Genoa, Gian Piero Gasperini, Raffaele Palladino, Serie A, Thiago Motta

Posted in Fiorentina, Genoa, Serie A |

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 15th, 2009 at 11:17 pm and is filed under Fiorentina, Genoa, Serie A. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.