22 March 2008

ATALANTA 0
CATANIA 0

Attendance : 8,600
Assists : n/a


FIORENTINA 1 (Pazzini 77)
LAZIO 0

Attendance : 27,000
Red Card : Mutarelli 38 (Lazio)
Assist : Liverani


PALERMO 2 (Amauri 24 Pen, Amauri 94)
GENOA 3 (Figueroa 29, Milanetto 50, Konko 62)

Amauri smashed Palermo into the lead from the penalty spot. Figueroa started in place of Borriello, I'm guessing had had a minor injury as he made an appearance in the second half, and quickly pulled Genoa level with a superb curling effort which flew in offer the crossbar. Milanetto profited from slack marking in the box to turn in Figueroa's cross and Konko headed in Genoa's third from Juric's corner. Amauri curled in a late consolation goal, his 11th of the season.

Attendance : 23,260
Assists : Cavani (won pen), Leon, Figueroa, Juric, Bresciano


REGGINA 1 (Brienza 91)
NAPOLI 1 (Sosa 75)

Lavezzi chested down a Hamsik cross and Sosa scored at the second attempt. Reggina's equaliser was similar in construction but far superior in execution. Amoruso chested down Aronica's cross, Brienza let the ball bounce once before thrashing a right foot volley into the bottom left corner.

Attendance : 12,000
Assists : n/a, Amoruso


ROMA 2 (Tonetto 36, Panucci 63)
EMPOLI 1 (Giovinco 50)

Totti had his back to five Empoli defenders as Tonetto hit a pass into him, Tonetto continued his run forward, Totti played him in with a back heel and Tonetto beat Bassi at his near post. Abate intercepted Pizzaro's square pass, nutmegged Panucci and surged upfield before centring for Giovinco to tap in the equaliser. The duo made amends by combining for the winner, Panucci heading in a Pizarro free kick.

Attendance : 30,000
Red Card : Perrotta 57 (Roma)
Assists : Totti, Abate, Pizarro (fk)


SAMPDORIA 1 (Franceschini 91)
CAGLIARI 1 (Foggia 41)

A fantastic first touch allowed Foggia to bring a long ball under control and he kept his composure to score as Castelazzi advanced off his line. Franceschini kept Sampdoria's six game unbeaten run intact with a bullet header.

Attendance : 22,000
Assists : Biondini, Accardi


SIENA 2 (Maccarone 88 Pen, Maccarone 94)
PARMA 0

This was a proverbial six pointer and Mario Berretta's man came out on top thanks to Maccarone's 9th and 10th goals of the season. After converting a soft penalty the former Middlesbrough striker, brilliantly picked out by a deft Locatelli lob, curled a half volley wide of Bucci.

Attendance : 8,000
Assists : Maccarone (won pen), Locatelli


TORINO 0
MILAN 1 (Pato 66)

Attendance : 20,000
Assist : Gilardino


UDINESE 2 (Quagliarella 19, Di Natale 47)
LIVORNO 0

Quagliarella received possession with his back to play and challenged by a defender fell on top of him, got up, turned around and took three touches before smashing a shot past Amelia from 25 yards. Di Natale intercepted a hospital pass to double Udinese's lead after the restart.

Attendance : 14,000
Assist : n/a, n/a


INTER 1 (Maniche 83)
JUVENTUS 2 (Camoranesi 49, Trezeguet 63)

This was a genuine classic which is a rarity for a match involving Juventus. Julio Cesar did brilliantly to tip over a miss-hit Del Piero volley and at the other end Stankovic headed against the crossbar. Buffon made an absolutely sensational save from a Chivu free kick which you would swear blind is going to hit the back of the net every time you watch the replay.

Under pressure from Trezeguet, Burdisso headed a cross straight to Nedved and only a brilliant save prevented him from scoring his third goal of the season. Minutes later Del Piero swung a cross into a packed penalty area, the ball took deflections off Salihamidzic and Chiellini and as the Inter defence stood waiting for the offside flag Camoranesi steered the ball between Julio Cesar's legs. Ibrahimovic held up a longball to Suazo but he ballooned his shot high into the stands. Del Piero's extravagant flick forced a mistake from an off balance Burdisso and Trezeguet punished him with a thumping half volley. Del Piero crushed Materazzi on the right flank, flicking a ball inside before running into the box and shooting straight at Julio Cesar, Trezeguet couldn't put away the rebound. Del Piero took advantage of poor control from the awful Burdisso and bore down on goal before having his run checked by Maicon, should have been a penalty. Del Piero and Trezeguet wasted a great chance to finish off Inter on the break but after a spot of the Chuckle Brothers (to you, to me, to you) once again Del Piero shot straight at Julio Cesar. Maicon's persistence was rewarded with a goal from fat boy Maniche who almost stole a point in injury time when he whacked the ball against the base of a post.

With 8 games to go Inter now hold a slender 4 point lead over Roma. Their remaining games are as follows :

Inter : Lazio (A), Atalanta (A), Fiorentina (H), Torino (A), Cagliari (H), Milan (A), Siena (H), Parma (A)
Roma : Cagliari (A), Genoa (H), Udinese (A), Livorno (H), Torino (H), Sampdoria (A), Atalanta (H), Catania (A)

Roma have the easier schedule with road trips to Udinese and Sampdoria the most obvious potential banana skins. Inter meanwhile face three consecutive tough matches before a two game respite prior to what should be an incredible Milan derby given what's at stake for both teams.

Attendance : 58,049
Assists : Chiellini, n/a, Maicon