28 February 2011
MILAN 3 (Ibrahimovic 49 Pen, Boateng 77, Pato 79)
NAPOLI 0
The first half was a repeat of Milan - Spurs until the half hour mark. Van Bommel ran onto a deflected shot as he pulled the trigger Aronica flew across goal and made a great block. Pato should have given Milan the lead on the 40th minute but after De Sanctis spilled for Flamini his tame shot was cleared off the line.
Van Bommel theatrically went down in the box and minutes later drew a great save with a half volley at the back post. Milan's fierce second half pressure told seconds later. Cannavaro, under pressure from Ibrahimovic, tried to head clear a Gattuso cross, Jankulovski attacked the ball with an overhead kick, Pato went in with his head but Aronica got the decisive touch, elbowing the ball clear. After some confusion the ref pointed to the post and Ibrahimovic put Milan a goal up. Pato and Robinho drew great saves from De Sanctis. Boateng replaced Robinho on 62 minutes and finished off a splendid counter attack. Ibrahimovic released Pato with a sensational no look crossfield pass, Pato chased down the ball, waited for support then rolled the ball across goal and Boateng finished first time. Brilliant goal, brilliant player. Pato rubber stamped his best performance of the season with a brilliant solo goal. The brilliant Van Bommel headed a cross far from the Milan penalty area, Pato picked up possession on the centre circle, ran at two defenders and as they backed off whipped the ball inside the top right corner.
Brilliant second half performance from Milan. If Boateng stays fit the scudetto is Milan's.
Attendance : 77,276
Assists : n/a, Pato, Van Bommel
27 February 2011
CATANIA 2 (Maxi Lopez 51, Bergessio 56)
GENOA 1 (Floro Flores 19)
Andujar spilled Kucka's fierce drive and Floro Flores snared the rebound. Rossi headed a glorious Moretti cross against the bar and shot the rebound right into Andujar's arms. Terrible miss that cost Genoa the game. Lodi threw himself at a low inswinging free kick, the ball bounded off a clutch of Genoa defenders and Maxi Lopes tapped in the equaliser. Bergessio, who is course Argentinean like most of the Catania team, blasted in the winner, via a deflection, after a failed one-two with Maxi Lopez. Genoa lost Criscito to a bullshit red card. The defender won a ball with a sliding tackle, Lodi ran into his legs and threw himself high up in the air, a ridiculous dive. The ref, Giannoccaro, showed Floro Flores a red for protesting and Ballardini followed. Augustyn was sent off after Paloschi dived in the box but Veloso missed the penalty. Free kick expert Lodi rattled a post with a superb shot from the edge of the box.
Attendance : 12,588
Red Cards : Criscito 67 (Genoa), Floro Flores 68 (Genoa), Ballardini 70 (Genoa), Augustyn 75 (Catania)
Assists : n/a, n/a, n/a
BARI 1 (Ghezzal 87)
FIORENTINA 1 (Gilardino 21)
Montolivo clipped a ball over the top, Gilardino let it bounce before angling a half volley into the corner. Lovely finish. Fiorentina failed to clear a corner, Ghezzal picked up the ball on the edge of the D and with the outside of his right foot curled a shot inside the top left corner. Fantastic goal.
Attendance : 15,000
Assists : Montolivo, n/a
BRESCIA 2 (Caracciolo 16, Zoboli 19)
LECCE 2 (Corvia 31, Munari 70)
Brescia raced into a two goal lead, both headers. The first from a great Zambelli cross and the second from a corner. The heavily tattooed Kone could have scored a third before Corvia punished a lame offside trap to pull a goal back for De Canio's men. Lecce won a throw-in high up the pitch, Munari ran onto the ball and equalised via a deflection.
Attendance : 6,000
Assists : Zambelli, Diamanti (ck), Munari, Mesbah
CAGLIARI 1 (Dias 40)
LAZIO 0
Attendance : 8,000
Assists : n/a
CESENA 1 (Jimenez 90 Pen)
CHIEVO 0
Attendance : 14,084
Assists : Bogdani (won pen)
PALERMO 0
UDINESE 7 (Di Natale 10, Sanchez 19, Sanchez 28, Di Natale 41, Sanchez 42, Sanchez 48, Di Natale 60 Pen)
Armero, one of the best left backs in Serie A, was given time and space to measure a cross and Di Natale pulled away from Bovo to head past Sirigu. Sanchez made it 0-2 after Sirigu fumbled from a corner. Udinese's third would have brought tears of joy to Dunga's face. Defending a corner Isla passed the ball out wide left to Di Natale who didn't even look up as he played a first time centre to Sanchez who was tearing down the middle, Sanchez bamboozled Sirigu with a series of stepovers before rounding him and tapping into an empty net. Absolutely brilliant. Bacinovic was shown a second yellow for bringing down Armero, who was attacking down the right flank. Another mistake by Italy's #2, another goal. He dropped to his knees as Asamoah let rip from distance, must have forgotten to catch the ball or something as it bounced off his mid-riff, dived at Sanchez's feet but Di Natale tapped in the rebound. Less than a minute later Bovo slipped under pressure from Sanchez who cut in from the left, skipped past Pinzi and tapped the ball inside the left post. Sirigu make an excellent point blank save from Sanchez, putting the ball out for a corner only Sanchez immediately ran it back it play and scored. I guess the linesman had given up as well. The once much vaunted Darmian (on loan from Milan) pulled back Armero to earn himself a red card and Udinese a penalty. By now Udinese got bored and Di Natale didn't celebrate after completing his hat-trick.
Attendance : 22,831
Red Cards : Darmian 59 (Palermo), Bacinovic 40 (Palermo)
Assists : Armero, n/a, Di Natale, n/a, n/a, n/a, Armero (won pen)
ROMA 2 (Totti 19 Pen, Juan 36)
PARMA 2 (Amauri 74, Amauri 79)
Lucarelli stood his ground in the box as Taddei ran into him, bounced off and fell. The ref awarded Roma a penalty after prompting by the Roma players. Amauri grabbed a big chunk of De Rossi's shirt as Parma defended a corner, Sirigu spilled De Rossi's header and Juan poked in the rebound. Roma lost Pizarro to injury at half time and their midfield as a result. Amauri scored another incredible goal. Standing towards the middle right of the penalty area as Valiani swung in a cross he jumped in the air and scored with a back heal volley. Valiani also had a hand in the equaliser. Crespo and Cassetti collided when attacking his cross and Amauri fired in the rebound. Boy could Juve use Amauri right now. Parma were lucky to survive a penalty appeal for handball but they deserved a point.
Attendance : 28,000
Red Card : Paci 80 (Parma)
Assists : Taddei (won pen), n/a, Valiani, n/a
SAMPDORIA 0
INTER 2 (Sneijder 73 fk, Eto'o 94)
Sneijder broke the deadlock with a brilliant free kick. Eto'o, who was once again wasteful, pulled down a Stankovic long ball, beat a defender and fired between Curci's legs.
Attendance : 25,000
Assists : Pazzini (won fk), Stankovic
26 February 2011
JUVENTUS 0
BOLOGNA 2 (Di Vaio 49, Di Vaio 66)
Iaquinta rattled the inside of a post late in a dull first half. Sloppy play by Melo allowed Mutarelli to steal a ball in midfield, he chipped a cross over the top of the Juve defence and despite pressure from Chiellini Di Vaio lobbed over Storari. Fine finish. His second was a work of art. Mutarelli dropped a brilliant crossfield pass between two Juve defenders to Meggiorini he back healed the ball to Di Vaio, he touched it inside Bonucci, went past Grygera then squeezed a shot inside the left post. Portanova denied Toni with a brilliant goal-line clearance.
Attendance : 20,843
Assists : Mutarelli, Meggiorini