In a weekend of contrasting fortunes for the teams wearing black and white in Italy, Udinese ran riot in Sicily whilst Juve fell to a defeat, at the feet of a familiar face.
Marco Di Vaio endured a mixed time with the Turin-based club at the start of the decade. But seven years on, the thirty four year old was on hand to strike twice for visitors Bologna at the Stadio Della Alpi.
The 2-0 defeat was Juve’s eighth of the season and saw the pressure increase on boss Luigi Del Neri with his side languishing in seventh.
In contrast, things are certainly looking up for fifth placed Udinese, who really enjoyed themselves away to league table rivals Palermo.
An electrifying first half saw Alexis Sánchez grab a hat-trick, along with a brace for veteran hero Antonio Di Natale. And things looked to be taking a turn for the worse on 43 minutes when Armin Bačinović was dismissed for the home side.
The second half saw Sánchez add his fourth before Matteo Darmian also saw red for Palermo and Antonio Di Natale converted the spot kick to make it seven. All of this occurred by the 61st minute, and it’s amazing that the final half an hour saw no further damage for the home side.
The nature of the defeat has seen some already calling for the head of their coach Delio Rossi, with Palermo’s board notoriously impatient. For Udinese though, it was a fine weekend which was made even better with Lazio’s 1-0 defeat at Cagliari.
André Dias’s own goal on forty minutes proved to be decisive with the Sky Blues held at bay by some heroic goalkeeping from Michael Agazzi in the home team net.
The red half of Rome fared little better in a weekend when Udinese opened up a four point lead on the Giallorossi.
A week on from Claudio Ranieri’s departure as manager, following a capitulation at Genoa which saw the Romans go from three goals up to a 4-3 defeat, and it seems that little has changed.
A Francesco Totti penalty and another strike from Brazilian defender Juan had put the home side into a two goal lead at half time against Parma. But two goals in the final fifteen minutes from on loan Juve outcast Carvalho Amauri, saw the visitors salvage a point despite the sending off of Massimo Paci.
Despite the draw, Parma dropped behind fellow strugglers Catania into 17th after they came from behind to win at home to Genoa.
Newly signed forward Antonio Floro Flores had given the visitors the lead after 19 minutes. But the start of the second period saw a quick fire turnaround from Catania with Maxi López and Gonzalo Bergessio scoring.
The game then descended into something of a farce with Domenico Criscito and Flores being sent off for Genoa in quick succession. With both sets of coach staffing also reprimanded following continued touchline disputes.
There was still time for Genoa to be awarded a controversial penalty which would have seen them draw level. This followed yet another dismissal, this time for Catania, as they lost defender Blazei Augustyn. However, Miguel Veloso missed the resultant spot kick to leave the visitors empty handed.
Catania’s fraught win also moved them a point clear of Lecce, who were fortunate to come away with a 2-2 draw at Brescia.
Two goals in two minutes saw the home side take a deserved lead through Andrea Caracciolo and Davide Zoboli respectively. But Lecce soon reduced the arrears through Daniel Corvia on the half hour mark. And with twenty minutes left Gianni Munari completed the comeback to earn a valuable point.
The draw allowed Cesena to move above Brescia into 18th and just three points off Lecce, Parma and safety. Luis Jiménez was the hero against Chievo after Erjon Bogdani was fouled in the box. The Chilean duly stepped up to score and secure the win for the home side.
Whilst Cesena kept their hopes of survival alive, rock bottom Bari look increasingly doomed, despite a late 1-1 draw with Fiorentina. Twelve points from safety, things could have been even worse for the home side after Fiorentina’s Alberto Gilardino gave the Viola the lead after 21 minutes.
And though Abdelkader Ghezzal did level the scores with three minutes to go, the draw did little to help Bari’s chances for Serie A survival.
With much of the weekend focus placed on the battle for survival in Italy, with the top two of AC Milan and Napoli facing off on Monday, Inter Milan had the chance to close the gap on the front two.
But to do so they had to overcome Sampdoria away from home on Sunday night. A tight encounter, which was made all the more intriguing by the return of Samp star Giampaulo Pazzini, sprang into life in the final quarter of an hour.
Wesley Sneijder proved decisive yet again with the opening goal. And as Sampdoria poured forward in search of an equaliser, Inter hit them again late on in injury time, with Samuel Eto’o scoring to leave the visitors comfortable.
The win saw Leonardo’s men move second, a point above Napoli and three behind AC Milan. Monday’s title contender head to head could shape the nature of the title race in Italy. If Milan win later on, the five point gap at the top remains, but a win for Napoli would make it a genuine three horse race.
And who knows, if Udinese carry on their good form, it could even be four...