Fiorentina held at home

Fiorentina’s perfect start to Serie A season ends with late Cagliari equaliser as clinical Lazio cruise past Chievo.

Mauricio Pinilla
Mauricio Pinilla headed in the equaliser for Cagliari in the dying moments of the game [GETTY]

Fiorentina were held to a 1-1 draw at home on Sunday after a late Cagliari equaliser ended their perfect start to the Serie A season.

Vincenzo Montella’s team dominated but failed to make the most of their opportunities. They eventually took the lead in the 71st minute when Giuseppe Rossi nodded Alberto Aquilani’s cross on for Borja Valero to head home.

Fiorentina looked set to clinch a third straight victory but Mauricio Pinilla headed Victor Ibarbo’s cross in off the inside of the post in the final minute.

Matters grew worse for Fiorentina when David Pizarro was sent off in stoppage time for a comment he made to the referee.

Results & fixtures

Saturday 14 September

Inter Milan 1-1 Juventus
Napoli 2-0 Atalanta
Torino 2-2 AC Milan 2

Sunday 15 September

Fiorentina 1-1 Cagliari
Lazio 3-0 Chievo
Livorno 2-0 Catania
Udinese 1-1 Bologna
Verona 2-0 Sassuolo
Sampdoria v Genoa

Monday 16 September

Parma v Roma

Fiorentina also had star players Mario Gomez and Juan Cuadrado forced off with injuries.

Gomez, who was signed from Bayern Munich in the offseason, has sprained his knee with ligament damage and could be out for two to three months.

Fiorentina are two points behind Napoli, who still has a perfect record after a 2-0 victory over Atalanta on Saturday.

Clinical win

In the afternoon matches, a clinical Lazio cruised to a 3-0 victory over Chievo Verona, with all their goals coming in the first half.

Antonio Candreva got the home side off to the perfect start when his effort was deflected past Chievo goalkeeper Christian Puggioni in the eighth minute following a counter.

Lazio doubled their lead against the run of play in the 38th minute.

Puggioni flapped at Cristian Ledesma’s cross and Luis Pedro Cavanda volleyed it in from a tight angle for his first Serie A goal.

Senad Lulic all but sealed the result three minutes later, drilling home Eddy Onazi’s through ball.

Udinese captain Antonio Di Natale snatched a point for his side as a late goal on his 300th appearance for the club secured a 1-1 draw against Bologna. Alessandro Diamanti had given Bologna the lead in the 71st minute with a stunning free kick into the top corner but Di Natale volleyed home Luis Muriel’s pass five minutes from time.

Sassuolo remain pointless after wasting an astonishing number of chances in a 2-0 loss at fellow promoted side Hellas Verona.

Raphael Martinho and Romulo scored for Verona, who beat AC Milan on the opening day of the season.

The other promoted side, Livorno, beat Catania 2-0 with a second-half brace from Paulinho. Catania are also still to pick up a point.

Source: AP