6 February 2011

BOLOGNA 1 (Portanova 41)
CATANIA 0

Attendance : 15,107
Red Card : Alvarez 22 (Catania)
Assist : Perez (fk)


BRESICA 2 (Diamanti 17 Pen, Caracciolo 93)
BARI 0

Gazzi pulled down Kone to concede the penalty. Alvarez, all pace and no brains, wasted a great chance to equalise as did Kutuzov in the last seconds of the match, Arcari made a point blank effort and Hetemaj ball towards Caracciolo and he ran in on goal before opening up his body and sliding the ball into the corner.

A massive win for Brescia who now find themselves a point from safety and in Diamanti a genuine match winner.

Attendance : 6,000
Assists : Kone, Hetemaj


GENOA 1 (Floro Flores 46)
MILAN 1 (Pato 29)

Robinho did his usual miss an open goal routine before Pato tapped in an Ibrahimovic center. Genoa equalised in first half injury time. Konko, who gave the Milan defence fits all afternoon, was tackled by Yepes on the edge of the box but managed to poke a ball through to Floro Flores who easily turned the abominably bad Bonera before beating Abbiati.

Milan's grip of top spot is slipping away. They're been awful since the restart. If Boateng isn't back next week Inter will be top by the end of the month. Milan aren't capable of beating Napoli and Chievo without him. Allegri has done many great things tactically but he shouldn't pick Bonera under any circumstances whatsoever, many of the goals Milan concede are his fault.

Attendance : 25,000
Assists : Ibrahimovic, n/a


LAZIO 1 (Hernanes 48 fk)
CHIEVO 1 (Cesar 64)

Hernanes became the second player to score a free kick in first half injury time but Chievo, sort of a more refined Allardyce era Bolton, equalised from a corner.

Attendance : 20,000
Assists : Brocchi (won fk), Bogliacino


LECCE 2 (Giacomazzi 17, Jeda 50)
PALERMO 4 (Miccoli 47 fk, Pastore 57, Hernandez 60, Ilicic 62)

Giacomazzi headed in a free kick and Miccoli scored from one in first half injury time. Giacomazzi touched on a cross for Jeda to blast Lecce back into the lead. Palermo raced away with the points with a five minute blitz. Lecce's achilles' heal is their offside trap and they collectively gift wrapped the equaliser to Pastore. Three minutes later Sirigu launched a hail Mary ball into the Lecce half, Migliaccio flicked on and forgotten man Abel Hernandez ran through to score his first goal of the season. Ilicic played a one-two with Pastore, Abel Hernandez took out a defender with a dummy run and Ilicic ran onto Pastore's return pass, threw off Rosati with a serious of feints then rolled the ball into the net.

Attendance : 9,100
Assists : Munari (fk), Bacinovic (won fk), Giacomazzi, Ilicic, Migliaccio, Pastore


NAPOLI 2 (Cavani 13, Sosa 91)
CESENA 0

Hamsik played in Maggio on the overlap and Cavani tapped his centre past Antonioli. Mascara turned on Cavani's pass for Sosa, the midfielder not their former flop striker Roberto Sosa, to score his second Napoli goal.

Attendance : 50,000
Assists : Maggio, Mascara


PARMA 1 (Amauri 15)
FIORENTINA 1 (D'Agostino 49 Pen)


Amauri, predictably, scored his first goal for Parma in only his second appearance and served to remind those who had forgotten why he was once being courted by both Italy and Brazil. Giovinco swung in a deflected cross, Amauri ran across goal, leapt in the air and connected with an amazing right foot overhead kick. It's an extraordinary feat to meet the ball with an overhead kick on the run. Gobbi pulled back 18 year old centre back Camporese to concede the penalty. Giovinco should have done better from an Amauri centre and the Brazilian almost won his side a deserved three points with a trademark header which came back off the crossbar.

Attendance : 13,588
Assists : n/a, Camporese (won pen)


INTER 5 (Sneijder 3, Eto'o 35, Eto'o 63 Pen, Motta 71, Cambiasso 90)
ROMA 3 (Simplicio 13, Vucinic 75, Loria 81)

Roma's prospects of getting anything from this game were slim following Mexes' suspension. Sneijder turned onto a Maicon pass and from the edge of the D curled the ball into the top left corner. Brilliant goal. Vucinic played a ball out wide to Cassetti and Simplicio slid in his centre at the back post to equalise. Eto'o drifted in from the right, feigned to shoot, stepped outside Riise then beat Julio Sergio with a low shot into the corner. Sneijder picked out Pazzini with a glorious lofted pass, Burdisso momentarily grabbed him and it was enough to send him down and Burdisso off. Eto'o knocked down a Sneijder cross and Motta stooped to head in Inter's fourth. Riise touched a free kick to De Rossi and Vucinic broke from the wall to turn it past Julio Cesar. Loria got Roma to within a goal from a corner. Juan headed against a post and the former Siena defender smashed in the rebound. Inter wasted several more chances to score a fifth, including an incredible miss by Motta, before Cambiasso scored following a goalmouth scramble.

That's 13 goals conceded by Inter in Leonardo's 8 league games but, unfortunately for Milan and Napoli, with Sneijder back and the addition of Pazzini they're awesome going forward. Inter have looked less than convincing on the road. Next week they're at Juventus, a game that will be hugely significant for both clubs.

Attendance : 62,344
Red Card : Burdisso 62 (Roma)
Assists : Maicon, Cassetti, Pazzini (won pen), Sneijder, Eto'o, De Rossi, n/a, Zanetti


5 February 2011

UDINESE 2 (Sanchez 18, Di Natale 40)
SAMPDORIA 0

Di Natale swung a free kick into the box, no one bothered to pick up Sanchez on account of him being a midget and he promptly scored with a back header. Sanchez returned the favour. He carried the ball 50 yards before playing in Di Natale who evaded a dangerous tackle in the box before hooking the ball wide of Curci and into the bottom corner. His 100th Serie A goal and a phenomenal achievement.

Attendance : 15,000
Assists : Di Natale (fk), Sanchez


CAGLIARI 1 (Acquafresca 51)
JUVENTUS 3 (Matri 20, Matri 75, Toni 84)

Some joy at last for Juve in Sardinia. Krasic was looking to play a ball into Martinez, who missed it completely, but it fell to Matri who caught his former goalkeeper by surprise with an early shot on the turn. Ariaudo? teased Krasic on the left of the penalty area before swinging a cross over the heads of the Juve defence and Acquafresca pulled away from Bonucci to equalise. Aquilani should have been sent off. He fouled Cossu then casually walked over and kicked him in the face. The camera's caught it so he's f*cked. With his back to goal Matri flicked a ball out wide to Barzagli and volleyed his first time cross past Agazzi. Toni made the points safe with an absolutely brilliant header from the edge of the box.

Matri's positional play was excellent. The problem is he tends to score in bunches. If he can make the most of the service he'll get he could prove to be just as astute a signing as Pazzini - that's a hell of a front two for Italy.

Attendance : 23,000
Assists : Krasic, Cossu, Chiellini, Barzagli