Whilst the Italian national side continued its stuttering start to the Euro 2012 qualifiers last week, this weekend saw a return to action in Serie A..
Saturday presented AC Milan with the opportunity to move top of Serie A with a home fixture against modest opponents Chievo, who were enduring something of a difficult spell following an excellent start to the campaign.
Despite long periods of possession and pressure, the visitors found themselves two goals down at half time, thanks to a pair from Brazilian Alexandre Pato, as Milan scored twice on the break. The second half saw the Flying Donkeys continue to press for a way back into the match and their goal duly arrived on 70 minutes through Captain Sergio Pellissier. However, Chievo were unable to build on this and in the 90th minute Robinho scored to seal the victory and move AC top.
Roma also had an opportunity to move up the table, though in this instance it was from the more unfamiliar position within the bottom three. In order to do so, they would have to face a Genoa side that were more than capable of causing an upset. Roma took the lead just after the half hour mark, through Marco Borriello. Things got even better in the second half as Matteo Brighi scored on 53 minutes to give the home side a comfortable cushion. However, as it has so often been the case with Roma this season, the defence failed to hold firm with Rudolf scoring on 78 minutes to set up a nervy finale. Fortunately, the home side held on to record only their second victory of the campaign and move level with Genoa on eight points.
Sunday results saw more changes in the table, as Udinese recorded a win to see them move two places up from the foot of the league. Bernardo Corradi scored the only goal of the game as the little Zebras enjoyed a rare away victory against newly promoted Brescia. And with Roma having won the previous night, the pressure was also on Parma and Fiorentina to get results.
Parma travelled to another newly promoted side in Cesena. The home side were also looking to steady the ship following three straight defeats which had seemingly wiped away the excellent start they had made to the campaign.
Cesena took the lead as Albanian striker Erjon Bogdani scored after just over a quarter of an hour. Yet it didn’t last long, as Christian Zaccardo equalised just before the half hour mark. From there, the game petered out, to leave both sides a point better off.
Meanwhile, Fiorentina continued their poor start to the post-Prandelli era. In truth you had to feel for new manager Sinisa Mihajlovic, who watched his Viola side take an early lead at Sampdoria through Marchionni. The scores stayed the same until ten minutes from time, when Reto Ziegler and then Antonio Cassano scored in the space of a minute to turn the game on its head and send Fiorentina bottom of Serie A.
For Sampdoria, it was a result which saw them keep touch with the chasing pack of Palermo and Juventus on the cusp of the European qualification places. Both of these sides enjoyed impressive home victories on Sunday. Juventus entertained Lecce and found themselves 3-0 up at half time, with goals from new boys Quagliarella and Aquilani. The second half offered little else, other than a goal from substitute Alessandro Del Piero to apply the icing to an impressive score line.
Palermo also scored four, as first Argentine sensation Javier Pastore and then Josep Ilicic gave the Eagles a two goal half time lead at home to Bologna. Mauricio Pinilla then added a third just after the break, before Marco Di Vaio reduced the arrears. The final goal of the game came in the 88th minute as Armin Bacinovic scored to complete the rout.
Elsewhere, Napoli travelled to Catania knowing that a win was required to keep up the pressure on Inter and AC Milan, and things looked good when they took the lead on 39 minutes through Edinson Cavani. But Catania were not going to roll over for the Naples club and finally equalised with twenty minutes remaining, through Alejandro Gomez. In injury time Paulo Cannavaro, brother of Fabio, was sent off as Napoli had to settle for a point.
All this was good news for Inter Milan fans on an otherwise mixed day for the club. They travelled to Cagliari, yet the start of the match was marred by crowd trouble as the referee threatened to call a halt to proceedings unless racist chanting by the home fans, directed as Inter’s Samuel Eto’o ceased. Once the trouble had seemingly died down, Eto’o allowed his football to do the talking with goal on 39 minutes which was his sixth in seven league games. Inter keeper Julio Cesar then kept the home side at bay, as Inter drew level on points with Milan and temporarily went top.
That was because current league leaders Lazio did not face Bari until Sunday evening. In truth, life could not be better for the blue half of Rome. With Roma struggling and Inter less dominant, Lazio have emerged as one of the teams to watch in Italy this season.
The squad today is a blend of youth, experience and South American talent. Whilst previous signings like Brazilian Metuzalem and the brilliant but inconsistent Mauro Zarate have promised much, it is undoubtedly the arrival of midfielder Hernanes that has excited fans most. Regarded by Brazilian pundits as a future star of the national side, the move to Lazio was an unexpected one, yet it is paying dividends for club and player.
Sunday night’s game away to Bari saw Hernanes score his second goal for the visitors, in what proved to be a comfortable two goal victory. The win was their fifth in the last six games with it Lazio ensured staying top, some two points clear of AC and Inter Milan.