No reviews next week as I'm out of town.
17 October 2010
CAGLIARI 0
INTER 1 (Eto'o 39)
Attendance : 22,000
Assist : Sneijder
BRESCIA 0
UDINESE 1 (Corradi 80)
Attendance : 6,000
Assist : Pasquale
CATANIA 1 (Gomez 69)
NAPOLI 1 (Cavani 39)
Napoli took the lead against the run of play after De Sanctis had made three excellent point blank saves. Lavezzi sent in a cross, Cavani was left unmarked on the back post, trapped the ball and shot into the corner. Despite taking the lead Napoli couldn't get out of first gear as the host continued to batter them. De Sanctis made a magnificent one handed save to deny Spolli a certain goal. Mascara played in Ricchiuti down the left, De Sanctis readied himself for a Lopez header but he intelligently flicked the ball back and Gomez's first time shot crept into the bottom right corner. Cavani missed an absolute sitter late on but in truth Napoli were lucky to escape with a point.
Attendance : 13,000
Red Card : Cannavaro 93 (Napoli)
Assists : Lavezzi, Lopez
CESENA 1 (Bogdani 17)
PARMA 1 (Zaccardo 28)
Giaccherini seized on a mistake and unleashed a thunderous shot at goal which almost sent Mirante into the back of the net along with the ball. Bogdani scored from the resulting corner with a towering header. Parma also scored via a corner, Zaccardo was 10 yards away from goal as he attacked a deflected cross, the ball looped high in the air before dropping into the right corner.
Attendance : 14,292
Assists : Jimenez (ck), n/a
JUVENTUS 4 (Aquilani 13, Melo 34 Pen, Quagliarella 44, Del Piero 82)
LECCE 0
Roma and Liverpool reject Aquilani scored with what was his trademark when he first burst onto the scene, a great shot from distance. Krasic ended any lingering doubts that he had taken possession of the soul of Nedved with a trademark Nedved dive to win a penalty which was curiously converted by Melo. Krasic played a one-two with Amauri before floating a cross over to the back post and Quagliarella got low, low down to head into an empty net. Krasic completed a hat-trick of assists by unselfishly passing to Del Piero in the box, Del Piero brought the ball onto his left foot before smashing it into the top corner. His 178th league goal for Juve. One more and he breaks Giampiero Boniperti's record for most league goals in a Juve shirt.
Juve haven't played football of this quality since the glory days of Jugovic, Vialli, Ravanelli and of course a young Del Piero. I actually look forward to watching them play.
Attendance : 23,373
Assists : Marchisio, Krasic (won pen), Krasic, Krasic
PALERMO 4 (Pastore 17, Ilicic 24, Pinilla 47, Bacinovic 83)
BOLOGNA 1 (Di Vaio 65)
Pastore began the rout with a FANTASTIC first time shot which curled away from Viviano into the top right corner. Not to be outdone Ilicic intercepted a hospital pass, dribbled between two defenders and thumped a left foot drive over Viviano. Pinilla, who must be the tallest player in Chile's national team, climbed above a defender to head in Palermo's third. Di Vaio raced onto a through ball before beating Sirigu with a typically composed finish, well typical in recent years, he was hopeless after leaving Parma in 2002. 20 year old DM Bacinovic, who like Ilicic, was signed from Maribor after impressing in their Europa League clashes against Palermo, half volleyed a longball into the bottom right corner. Another superb finish and you won't see better goals in a single game this weekend anywhere in Europe, probably.
After an awful start Palermo have rocketed up the table and are right back in the hunt for a Champions League place - if Italy can stay ahead of Germany in the coefficients. All this without Miccoli.
Attendance : 23,587
Assist : Nocerino, n/a, Balzaretti, Mudingayi, Nocerino
SAMPDORIA 2 (Ziegler 81 fk, Cassano 82)
FIORENTINA 1 (Marchionni 6)
Midget Marchionni got above the slack Ziegler to head in a fantastic Vargas cross. It was one way traffic after that and Frey kept the home side out until Ziegler beat him with a spectacular free kick. Seconds later Cassano turned onto Marilungo's pass, away from Gastaldello, ran into the box, sent two defenders dizzy with feints and dummies then shot past Frey.
I'm not sure how long Fiorentina will give Mihajlovic. He's a bad fit for the club. He's a whinging, angry prick, a loathsome character that couldn't be more different than Prandelli.
Attendance : 25,000
Assists : Vargas, Marilungo (won fk), Marilungo
BARI 0
LAZIO 2 (Hernanes 52, Floccari 61)
Lazio's goal followed FIFTEEN passes, the last of which was a fantastic through ball from Mauri, Hernanes took a touch before nutmegging Gillet in the Bari goal. Mauri hammered a clearance into the ground, the ball bounced to Floccari and before he could fashion a shot, hit his right knee and bounced into the net. Bari, who are a negative, defence side, came out of their shell but aside from hitting the woodwork didn't trouble a strong Lazio defence.
Brazilian centre back Dias has been excellent for Lazio.
Attendance : 23,000
Assists : Mauri, Mauri
16 October 2010
MILAN 3 (Pato 18, Pato 30, Robinho 93)
CHIEVO 1 (Ibrahimovic 70 og)
Pato marked his return to the Milan starting line-up with a quick double, made in Sweden. It would have been criminal had he wasted a gorgeous Ibrahimovic cross to the back post but he steadied himself before bouncing a volley into the bottom left corner. Ibrahimovic drew a foul 30 yards from goal. As he rose to his feet his quickly taken free kick found Pato who blasted the ball past an unsuspecting Sorrentino. Ronaldinho lead a counter from a Chievo corner but Ibrahimovic wasted a glorious chance to finish off Chievo with a lazy finish, his attempted lob was easily gathered by Sorrentino. Pato also had a chance on the break, forcing a save from the overworked Sorrentino.
Ibrahimovic deflected a Bogliacino corner into his own net seconds before Pato made way for Robinho. The Brazilian broke his duck with a fine finish. Collecting a Ronaldinho pass he danced around Sorrentino before tapping into an empty net. Massive goal for him and a massive goal for a Milan attack that are one paced without Pato.
Attendance : 49,710
Assists : Ibrahimovic, Ibrahimovic, n/a, Ronaldinho
ROMA 2 (Borriello 33, Brighi 52)
GENOA 1 (Rudolf 78)
Both teams missed a hat-full of chances before Borriello beat his marker to a deflected cross and poked Roma into the lead. Brighi, Perrotta and Borriello managed to pull off an intricate passing move in and around the Genoa penalty area, more by luck than judgement, Perrotta underhit a back heal but the Genoa defence failed to pick up Brighi and as he slid across the turf he scooped the ball into the air and over Eduardo. These three are Italy internationals - how standards have fallen. Both teams hit the woodwork. Toni chested down a longball before volleying the ball forward with a lovely back heal volley, Rudolf controlled it on his chest and stumbled his way through two tackles as the ball tricked into the net.
As I predicted in my Serie A preview Borriello has become Roma's key player but of course Totti, the darling of Rome, will hog the limelight.
Attendance : 30,000
Assists : n/a, Perrotta, Toni