Ten-man Cesena suffer Viola stalemate

Cesena are still searching for their first win of the season after being held to a goalless draw by Fiorentina at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi. The home side hit the woodwork twice, but were forced to play the last 20 minutes without Adrian Mutu, who was sent off for showing a bit too much zeal against his former team-mates. Alessandro Gamberini missed Fiorentina's best chance in the first half, but Sinisa Mihajlovic's side were unable to make the breakthrough and had to settle for a point. The opening to the game was entertaining, with both sides attacking with intent. Fiorentina should have gone ahead in the 17th minute when Cesare Natali nodded a corner towards the far post, where his central defensive partner Gamberini was all alone but lifted the ball over the crossbar from only a yard out. Cesena's response was a stinging shot from 30 yards out from Roberto Guana which rattled the crossbar in the 20th minute. Cesena full-back Luca Ceccarelli was next to test Artur Boruc, and the Fiorentina goalkeeper was lucky to see the ball evade the onrushing Cesena strikers as he pushed the shot away. Mutu dismissed Five minutes later, Francesco Antonioli dived on a loose ball inside the penalty area just before Alessio Cerci could tap it into an open goal as good chances fell at both ends of the field. The home side hit the woodwork again in the 55th minute when Antonio Candreva's shot deflected onto the top of the crossbar with Boruc beaten. Mutu then showed his best and worst sides in the space of a minute. He first beat two Fiorentina defenders on his way into the penalty area, from where he placed his shot wide of the far post from a tight angle. He then reacted badly as Manuel Pasqual tugged his shirt and lashed out at the Fiorentina full-back with his hand, earning a justified red card from the referee. La Viola were unable to make the most of the final 20 minutes with an extra man, though.