Review: Siena 1 -0 Scum… ‘Viola merda, Viola Viola merda!’

By: Matthew | November 3rd, 2008

Oh it is amazing how the footballing gods play with their toys, but it is exactly results like this that make football more addictive than crack.

You may have noticed that I stressed the term ‘results like this’ rather than ‘games like this’, that is simply because the game was dire but the result has made our season so far and has made the last few week’s results a lot easier to swallow.

There is a tradition amongst the tifosi della Robur that on derby day everyone goes out for lunch and feasts on la Bistecca alla Fiorentina, to ensure that we will ‘eat them alive’ should it come down to it… The pride and passion of the Tuscan derby is different to the city one of Lazio-Roma, Milan-Inter etc. what is at stake here is a history of constant war between the cities dating back throughout history, it transcends football and fits perfectly into the psyche of i Sienese, who by all accounts are a withdraw type of Italian: ‘Siena first, Italy second’ is what I learnt there, and with that the satisfaction of winning the battle against the old enemy is immeasurable.

Fiorentina made the short trip across Tuscany to one of their least favourite place to travel (as recent seasons have indicated).. A win in this most heated of rivalries is like gold dust between the squads and it is rare that the away end at the Artemio Franchi is brim full but with the hosting of the Merda the organisers always manage to sneak an extra 3,000-odd over the capacity.

Both teams have been handed raw deals in recent weeks, as I have documented Siena have felt hard done by following a couplet of soft penalty decisions going against them, whilst “Gila-gate” has left Fiorentina fuming as his imposed two match ban for a handball left him unavailable for selection.

The first half saw a very cagey 45minutes with returning Gianluca Curci called on a couple of times to clean up bits-and-pieces of viola attack, the highlight of a poor half of football saw the fit again Adrian Mutu finding the back of the net but his header was correctly judged to have been offside. The second half however was a completely different story. Giampaolo called upon Frick to replace the ineffective Calaio’ and suddenly Siena looked a lot more of a threat. The pace of Frick was the shot in the arm needed and seemed to complement the surging runs of Kharjah and the endless energy of ‘Big Mac’ Maccarone. La Robur began to look a more balanced but were once again indebted to Curci with a splendid double save from Pazzini and Mutu, respectively. Frick then had two excellent efforts to give the home side the lead but minutes after his first attempt was well saved by Frey, Maccarone teed up the ball on a plate only for Frick to smash it against the post with the goal at his mercy. No matter, as minutes later from a Galloppa corner man-of-the-match Kharja headed home the only goal of the game leaving Frey stranded. The final quater of an hour saw Fiorentina threaten only once with a Jovetic shot again saved by Curci. As the whistle blew the Robur fans erupted in a celebration that lasted into the night as they repeated the feat of 6 months ago, kept the home record alive and send the arch enemy packing with another game without scoring.. a Sunday afternoon doesn’t get much sweeter than that!

For a team like my beloved Siena there are a few things that make really do make or break a season. We shall not kid ourselves, Siena will never win Serie A, thats right you’ve heard it here first. I humbly believe that simply being in Serie A is reward enough for the people and fans of Siena. They are blessed with what is arguably the most beautiful city in one of the most cultural; most visited and most loved countries in the world. A scaffolding structured stadium that holds 15,000 capacity (18,000 come derby day!) can never claim to hold favour to the coveted Scudetto… In fact, a couple of seasons ago I had a detailed discussions over a post-match coffee with a good friend of mine and we discussed the fact that if Siena were to reach a birth in European competition the likelihood of our games played at the Monte di Paschi Arena would be small, with a likely transfer to the ground of the Scum 45minutes away in Firenze. It is reasons such as these which will thwart a Siena title charge, bigger teams will always have better players, higher wages, more revenue etc. Even teams such as Napoli and Udinese may struggle to wrestle away the Scudetto from the usual hawks, and i wish them the best of luck, but with La Robur our feet are set firmly on the ground: fight off relegation, find good young players or ageing greats on the cheap, take on loan future talent from the big sides and beat Fiorentina, these are the priorities and not necessarily in that order! Therefore at this point in time all the animosity I perviously had about bad decisions costing us points and terrible away form seem to have vanished in a euphoria after only 90 minutes of football that only a derby day victory can bring you. The footballing gods may have finally come around to realizing that Siena are no longer the punching boys of the division, but without them trying to show favouritism it is becoming apparent that Siena are now the God’s favourite team in Tuscany.

Siena: Curci; Zuniga, Rossettini, Portanova (Moti 85), Del Grosso, Vergassola, Codrea, Galloppa, Kharja, Calaiò (Frick 46), Maccarone (Ghezzal 89)

Fiorentina: Frey; Comotto (Zauri 15), Gamberini, Kroldrup, Pasqual, Donadel, Melo, Almiron (Kuzmanovic 75), Santana, Pazzini, Mutu (Jovetic 67)

Goal: Kharja 76 (S)

Ref: Farina