14 March 2010
BOLOGNA 1 (Raggi 92)
SAMPDORIA 1 (Gastaldello 86)
Four minutes from time Gastaldello gave Samp the lead from a short corner but his team-mates threw away the points when a lazily played offside trap allowed Raggi to sneak up from the right and slam a shot past Storari.
Attendance : 18,573
Assists : Ziegler, Lanna
GENOA 5 (Zapater 36 Pen, Palacio 39, Sculli 43, Rossi 45, Milanetto 59)
CAGLIARI 3 (Dessena 17, Conti 41, Matri 55 Pen)
Matri turned a defender in the box before flashing a ball across the face of goal, Dessena got the faintest of touches but scored nonetheless. Rubinho should have been sent off for tripping Larrivey as he ran in on goal, I can only assume the fact that he got both hands on the ball is the reason he stayed on the pitch. Genoa hit the woodwork for a third time before Palacio went over to win a penalty. Three minutes after Zapater had equalised Palacio converted a Palladino centre at the second time of asking after kicking it against his trailing leg. Cossu pulled down a longball and laid it off for Conti to side-foot past Rubinho. Sculli put Genoa back in front following a spot of head tennis and Rossi rifled in a Milanetto cross to send Genoa 4-2 up at half time. Matri made it 4-3 from the penalty spot but Genoa quickly reasserted their authority with a fine goal. Sculli lobbed a ball into the box, Palacio headed down and Milanetto volleyed wide of Marchetti.
Attendance : 26,000
Assists : Matri, Palacio (won pen), Palladino, Cossu, Papastathopoulos, Cossu (won pen), Palacio
JUVENTUS 3 (Del Piero 2, Del Piero 7, Candreva 10)
SIENA 3 (Maccarone 16, Ghezzal 46, Ghezzal 74 Pen)
A mix-up between Curci and one of his centre backs gifted Del Piero with an open goal. Fittingly Del Piero's 301st career goal was a spectacular right foot volley, which forced a change of T-Shirts from his family members commemorating this particular feat in the executive boxes. Candreva, who should be Italy's standout midfielder at the World Cup, made it 3-0 with a stunning shot from 25 yards. Six minutes later Grygera made another hospital pass (thought it wasn't as bad as the one against Palermo) and Maccarone ran wide of Cannavaro before beating Juve's third choice goalkeeper Chimenti at his near post. Siena were surprisingly aggressive in search of more goals and got one early in the second half when Ghezzal tapped over the line after Maccarone's shot came back off a post. Juve had a shot cleared off the line and Siena hit the woodwork for a second time before Grygera invitingly stuck out a leg in the box and Maccarone obliged by going over.
Juve were probably tired from mid-week and faded badly in the second half.
Attendance : 22,804
Assists : n/a, n/a, Trezeguet, n/a, n/a, Maccarone (won pen)
LIVORNO 3 (Lucarelli 9, Lucarelli 26, Lucarelli 71 Pen)
ROMA 3 (Perrotta 10, Toni 19, Pizarro 28)
Lucarelli played Roma's offside trap like a fiddle, running from an offside position into an onside position the second Moro sent a ball over the top and he ran clear of Riise to hook a shot into the bottom corner. Perrotta equalised less than a minute later after Taddei flicked on a Toni header with back heel volley. Lovely goal. Perrotta flicked on a Pizarro free kick and Toni headed in at the back post. Roma's offside trap failed again, leaving Lucarelli with another run on goal, 2-2. Pizarro made a late run into the box to blast in a loose ball and send Roma 2-3 up at the break. The normally dependable Chilean playmaker blew a penalty, hitting the woodwork. Lucarelli made no such mistake after Juan handled in the box.
Ranieri never learns. The offside trap is a mug's game and has been since FIFA changed the rules back in 1994.
Attendance : 12,358
Assists : Moro, Taddei, Perrotta, Di Gennaro, n/a, n/a
LAZIO 0
BARI 2 (Almiron 51, Alvarez 64)
Muslera fumbled a free kick and Almiron pounced to score against the run of play. Bari's second came on the break. Meggiorini ran into a Lazio player and shoulder charged him off the ball then passed out wide to Alvarez, the Honduran has pace to burn and left the Lazio defence in his wake then showed all too rare composure to round Muslera and lob into an empty net. Donati pulled back Cruz to concede a penalty. Kolarov, who has an explosive shot, saw his weak spot kick saved by Gillet.
Attendance : 45,000
Assists : n/a, Meggiorini
PARMA 1 (Bojinov 71)
ATALANTA 0
Attendance : 15,695
Red Card : Doni (Atalanta)
Assist : Crespo
UDINESE 3 (Floro Flores 44, Floro Flores 65, Asamoah 70)
PALERMO 2 (Simplicio 51, Cavani 80)
Floro Flores rifled in a loose ball on the stroke of half time. Six minutes after replacing the injured Pastore Simplicio combined with Miccoli to draw Palermo level. Di Natale angled a ball over two defenders and Floro Flores let it bounce before shooting under a defenders legs past Sirigu. Di Natale made what proved to be the winning goal with an exquisite pass. He flicked the ball up with his instep, turned and volleyed over Kjaer, Asamoah took a touch before lobbing over Sirigu. Cavani scored with a corkscrew scissor kick which was not nearly as impressive as it sounds, not enough hang time.
Attendance : 14,000
Assists : n/a, Miccoli, Di Natale, Di Natale, Liverani
MILAN 1 (Seedorf 91)
CHIEVO 0
This game was notable for the fact that it could well be the last David Beckham ever plays. On 87 minutes he was about to kick a ball when he suddenly pulled on holding his calf. He left the field on a stretcher. Milan later revealed he tore a tendon in his left leg and would be out of action for between five-six months and as he's 35 in May there's a possibility he'll never play again. Seedorf came off the bench to grab three points in this abomination of a football match with a spectacular shot from the edge of the box.
Attendance : 37,866n/a
Assist : n/a
13 March 2010
NAPOLI 1 (Lavezzi 48)
FIORENTINA 3 (Gilardino 60, Gilardino 87, Jovetic 95)
Gilardino left Napoli 'keeper De Sanctis with a bloody mouth after catching him with a boot when attacking a cross. Midget Lavezzi did what team-mate Denis had failed to do on a couple of occasions when he headed in a cross. The turning point came when Lavezzi was tripped by Felipe in the box, no penalty, no card, terrible decision by the ref. Fiorentina's SIXTEEN YEAR OLD Senegalese striker, on a second half substitute, controlled a booming long ball on his chest, fell, quickly got to his feet as Lazio defenders tried to clear and poked a ball out wide to Jovetic and his first time cross was headed in by Gilardino. The duo combined to put their side 1-2 up, Jovetic headed on a corner and Gilardino's flick header beat De Sanctis. The Napoli goalkeeper went up for a last second corner with disastrous results, he was tackled on the edge of the box and the ball broke to Babacar, he took one touch before aiming a shot at goal, he didn't get enough power but Jovetic burst forward and tapped into an empty net.
Fiorentina are out of Champions League despite winning six of their eight games. Miracle worker Prandelli is either replacing Lippi after the World Cup or Zaccheroni as Juve coach. Wherever he ends up he'll do a great job. He's a fantastic coach and will leave Fiorentina in excellent shape for the future. Fiorentina are rumoured to be looking at former club legend Dunga as his replacement.
Attendance : 30,000
Assists : Maggio, Jovetic, Jovetic, Babacar
12 March 2010
CATANIA 3 (Lopez 74, Mascara 81 Pen, Martinez 90)
INTER 1 (Milito 54)
Sneijder hit a phenomenal crossfield pass on the turn to release Eto'o and the Cameroon striker, surprisingly, centred for Milito to tap the four time Champions into the lead. Catania broke quickly after winning the ball in midfield, Alvarez drilled a low centre into the box and Lopez hammered a first time shot into the roof of the net. Silly Muntari lasted two minutes after replacing Cambiasso. He caught Martinez with his trademark leg breaking foul from behind then a minute or so later he emulated Balotelli by punching away a free kick, red card and penalty. Mascara converted with an outrageous Panenka lob. Andujar launched a goalkick into the Inter half, Lucio missed a header, Martinez cut in from the left, went past Lucio and Julio Cesar before tapping into an empty net.
Catania's first victory over Inter in 44 years. Mihajlovic is doing a super job, so far. Milan and Roma will be hoping Inter go deep in the Champions League so they take an eye off the scudetto. Eto'o has been a massive flop. 8 goals in 23 games is a poor return for a player of his ability. Despite being an immense, lazy idiot Balotelli has 7 in 21.
Attendance : 21,000
Red Card : Muntari 81 (Inter)
Assists : Eto'o, Alvarez, n/a, n/a