Lazio held by Viola

Lazio missed the chance to move up to fifth place in Serie A after a goalless draw with Fiorentina at the Stadio Olimpico.

Lazio missed the chance to move up to fifth place in Serie A after a goalless draw with Fiorentina at the Stadio Olimpico. Lazio did most of the running, creating enough chances to win the game, but failed to beat Fiorentina goalkeeper Neto. The visitors appeared tired from their Europa League exertions on Thursday and will have been the happier of the two sides with the point. Serie A's two Europa League contenders both returned from successful trips in midweek, Lazio recovering from two goals down to grab a 3-3 draw at Trabzonspor while Fiorentina picked up a second win in two games at Dnipro. Lazio had a marginally shorter trip and they seemed brighter in the first half. The first chance of the game fell their way in the 17th minute when Hernanes' shot was parried by Neto to Antonio Candreva, who headed the rebound on to the roof of the net. Candreva went closer with a direct free-kick which Neto punched away in the 22nd minute while his corner five minutes from the end of the first half went dangerously across the face of goal without a team mate getting a telling touch. Fiorentina had to wait until the hour mark before their first real effort on goal, a direct free-kick from Giuseppe Rossi which Federico Marchetti pushed away at full stretch. At the other end, Neto made a good save to deny Hernanes once again, before producing a similar effort to keep out a deflected Candreva effort. The Lazio midfielder's next shot went inches wide of the post as the hosts pushed for a winner, Fiorentina sitting further and further back, apparently settling for a point. The Biancoceleste threw everything forward in search of a win, but Sergio Floccari wasted a hat-trick of chances as Fiorentina held on.