25 January 2009
BOLOGNA 1 (Di Vaio 9 Pen)
MILAN 4 (Seedorf 13, Kaka' 17 Pen, Kaka' 43, Beckham 59)
Seedorf cancelled out Sony Vaio's 9th minute penalty when he snared a rebound after Antonioli parried Kaka's explosive right foot shot. Kaka' put Milan in front from the penalty spot. Pato made the most of minimal contact from Mudingayi to earn the Belgian midfielder a second yellow card. The two Brazilians, Ronaldinho was on the bench, combined for a lovely third. Kaka' backheeled a Pirlo pass to Pato as he spun his marker, Pato ran into the box, two defenders arrived to close him down, he backheeled to Kaka', he dribbled his way through two defenders before rifling a left foot shot into the bottom corner. Pato turned onto a throw-in deep into his own half and surged towards the Bologna penalty area, Seedorf touched on his pass and Beckham slammed a first time shot inside Antonioli's near post.
Beckham's crossing was one again awful but he does a lot of running and is a big name and that's usually enough to win over Ancelotti.
Attendance : 34,000
Red Card : Mudingayi 40 (Bologna)
Assists : Amoroso (won pen), n/a, Zambrotta (won pen), Pato, Seedorf
GENOA 1 (Milito 73)
CATANIA 1 (Martinez 67)
Ferrari was shown a second yellow for a slightly late foul on Baiocco. Six minutes later the former Juve flop took advantage of the space left by the defender's dismissal to swing in a cross from the right for Martinez to head past Rubinho. Milito, making his first appearance of the year following a short injury lay-off, scrambled home the equaliser after team-mates Motta and Jankovic collided when attacking a cross.
Attendance : 26,000
Red Card : Ferrari 61 (Genoa)
Assists : Baiocco, Motta
LAZIO 1 (Rocchi 3)
CAGLIARI 4 (Jeda 5, Jeda 9, Acquafresca 21 Pen, Matri 41)
Lopez hit a ball out of defence straight to Mauri and the midfielder sent Rocchi clear to score what everyone expected to be the first of several goals for the home side. The visitors hit back immediately, Jeda with a bullet header from Lazzari's cross. The Brazilian headed in his second goal four minutes later. Matri held off his marker, and skipped over a suicidal kick to his ankles as he turned onto a pass, Carrizo dived at his feet, he hung the ball upto the back post and Jeda headed into an empty net. Zarate rattled the crossbar with a free kick and at the other end Jeda threw himself over Carrizo to win a penalty which Acquafresca converted. Matri's header put Cagliari 1-4 up to complete a sensational reverse of the fixture on the opening day of the season. The ref, Romeo, tried to give Lazio a hand with an absolute bullshit penalty which Rocchi put well wide of the right post. Rocchi won a second penalty and this one was legit. Zarate took over penalty duties but his poor shot was saved.
Attendance : 25,000
Assists : Mauri, Lazzari, Matri, Jeda (won pen), Biondini
LECCE 3 (Munari 12, Munari 46, Castillo 73)
TORINO 3 (Samuel 47, Dellafiore 56, Natali 77)
Munari scored his first Serie A goal with an incredible 20 yard strike from way out wide right into the opposite corner. He put Lecce 2-0 up on half time from a corner. Giacomazzi's header was cleared off the line and Munari smashed home the rebound.
Torino got back into the match with a fluke goal two minutes into the restart. Samuel swung in a cross from the right and the ball evaded everyone as it bounced into the back of the net. Rosina ran onto a loose ball and overhit a cross to the back post, Dellafiore was off balance as he shot and his low drive bounced past Benussi. The hero quickly turned into a villain. At the opposite end of the pitch his slack clearance was charged down by Tiribocchi leaving Castillo with an easy finish. Benussi, who was at fault for Torino's first two goals, pissed away three points when he flapped at a Natali header.
Attendance : 8,000
Assists : Tiribocchi, n/a, Corini, Rosina, Tiribocchi, Corini
NAPOLI 0
ROMA 3 (Mexes 18, Juan 32, Vucinic 50)
Zalayeta had a goal chalked off for a shameful handball. Roma's centre backs sent Roma on the way to their most impressive victory of the season in this the 'Derby del Sud' (derby of the South). Mexes met Pizarro's free kick with a towering header at the back post and Juan headed in another Pizarro set piece. Vucinic pressed Santacroce into a mistake on the edge of his own penalty box and gathered Aquilani's defence splitting pass before beating Gianello.
Roma are well and truly back in the race for a Champions League spot. Spalletti kept his promise and has changed his stupid tactics. Napoli have been struggling for goals in recent weeks. Denis has gone off the boil and Zalayeta hasn't got going at all this season.
Attendance : 60,000
Assists : Pizarro (fk), Pizarro (ck), Aquilani
PALERMO 3 (Simplicio 17, Simplicio 54, Cavani 57)
UDINESE 2 (Pepe 2 fk, Di Natale 63)
Pepe gave struggling Udinese a second minute lead with a superb free kick. Despite the return of Zapata and Felipe Udinese conceded the equaliser from a corner. Kjaer got above his marker to head down a cross and Simplicio beat Handanovic with a diving header. Quagliarella slammed a 52nd minute penalty against the underside of the crossbar and to make matters worse two minutes Handanovic failed to make a routine save, fumbling a Simplicio's header into his own net. It was proving to be a bad day for the normally dependable Slovenian goalkeeper, he was beaten by a speculative drive which should have been tipped out for a corner. Di Natale pulled a goal back within four minutes of coming on for Pepe, giving a terrible clearance the treatment it deserved. Balzaretti talked himself into a late dismissal.
After the match Udinese president Giampaolo Pozzo defended coach Pasquale Marino but it's hard to defend three points from eleven games. I can't believe Donadoni hasn't been approached.
Attendance : 19,000
Red Card : Balzaretti 92 (Palermo)
Assists : Quagliarella (won fk), Kjaer, Liverani (ck), Cassani, n/a
SIENA 1 (Frick 44)
ATALANTA 0
Attendance : 9,000
Assist : Vergassola
INTER 1 (Adriano 46)
SAMPDORIA 0
Attendance : 45,359
Red Card : Mourinho 41 (Inter)
Assist : Maicon
24 January 2009
REGGINA 0
CHIEVO 1 (Italiano 93)
Best red card of the season. In front of the ref Carmona got into an argument with Rigoni and slammed the ball into his stomach. Italiano scored a fantastic last second winner, a blistering right foot shot from the edge of the box.
Attendance : 9,323
Red Card : Carmona 41 (Reggina)
Assist : Bentivoglio
JUVENTUS 1 (Marchisio 21)
FIORENTINA 0
Del Piero drifted in from the right and took out the Fiorentina defence with a fantastic disguised pass, Marchisio timed his run onto his captains' pass to perfection and lobbed over Frey into the opposite corner. Gilardino had a goal disallowed for offside and wasted a great cross by heading against the bar. Marchionni forced a double save from Frey and Giovinco should have wrapped it up late on. Fiorentina had more of the ball but did very little with it. I don't think we'll see them back in the Champions League next season.
Attendance : 22,560
Assist : Del Piero