Sunday 5 November 2006

Serie A Wk 10: More misery for Milan

Saturday 4 November
Siena 2-2 Parma
Siena showed just why they are the surprise package of Serie A this season as they battled from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw at home to Parma on Saturday. When Domenico Morfeo's opener and a second-half goal from Igor Budan put Parma in the driving seat it looked as though the modest outfit from Tuscany was heading for what would have been only its second defeat of the season. But Albanian striker Erjon Bogdani proved to be the hero for Mario Beretta's team, first pulling one back with 13 minutes to play and then sealing the comeback with a last-gasp equaliser.

Reggina 0-1 Catania
Reggina are still in the red after they went down to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Catania who move up into the top half of the table. Reggina are the only club implicated in this summer's scandal yet to overcome their points deduction and get out of the negative numbers although they have clawed back 12 of the 15 they were deducted and could yet get some back on appeal. However, Giorgio Corona's second-half strike ensured it was the newly-promoted Sicilians who prevailed at the Stadio Oreste Granillo and Reggina's points tally stays at minus three
.

Sunday 5 November
Atalanta 2-0 Milan
Nicola Ventola's second-half goal inspired Atalanta to a 2-0 victory and piled more domestic misery on AC Milan. The Rossoneri have struggled all season in Serie A and that continued on Sunday afternoon although they were hardly helped by having to play the final 15 minutes with 10 men following an injury to Gennaro Gattuso. Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti had made all his substitutions prior to Gattuso having to leave the pitch and it cost the visitors dearly as substitute Andrea Soncin killed the game off a minute from time. The result in Bergamo means Milan are 17 points behind Serie A leaders Inter and Palermo after just 10 games played. Stefano Colantuono's newly-promoted side have maintained their unbeaten run at home and also climb to fourth position in the standings.

Inter 2-0 Ascoli
Inter maintained their leadership of Serie A with a routine 2-0 victory over lowly Ascoli at the San Siro. Javier Zanetti gave them a first-half lead, which was added to by an own goal from Mirko Cudini in the second, before Ascoli blew the chance to make Roberto Mancini's men sweat late on when Michele Fini missed a penalty. But the champions were never in any real danger of dropping points in a one-sided game that leaves them above second-placed Palermo on goal difference alone. Ascoli, meanwhile, are one place outside the drop zone, with just four points from ten games, and are still hunting their first league win of the season.


Palermo 2-0 Sampdoria
Palermo kept pace at the top with a comfortable 2-0 win over 10-man Sampdoria at the Stadio Renzo Barbera. The Rosanero were hardly made to work for the win as goals from Eugenio Corini after 35 minutes and Cristian Zaccardo 20 minutes from time earned them the three points. Sampdoria lost Christian Terlizzi to a red card three minutes from the end, making an unlikely recovery impossible. Both sides meet again in Genoa on Wednesday in the first leg of the Coppa Italia fourth round when Samp have an immediate chance to gain revenge.

Roma 3-1 Fiorentina
Rodrigo Taddei scored a second half brace to inspire Roma to an emphatic 3-1 victory over Fiorentina. Taddei struck shortly after the re-start before adding his second of the evening in the 65th minute to allow the Romans to return to winning ways at the Stadio Olimpico. Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi had previously cancelled out Tomas Ujfalusi's 14th minute opener.

Livorno 1-0 Udinese
Livorno continued their excellent start to the season with a 1-0 win that enabled them to climb above opponents Udinese in the table. The game appeared to be drifting towards a goalless draw until Udinese had Antonio Di Natale sent off in the second half. Livorno took full advantage of their numerical supremacy with Ibrahima Bakayoko sealing the three points at the Stadio Armando Picchi after 73 minutes.

Empoli 1-1 Lazio
Igli Vanucchi's late equaliser salvaged a 1-1 draw for nine-man Empoli against Lazio. Vanucchi cancelled out Goran Pandev's first-half effort to deny the Romans their first win in five games. Empoli never gave up hope despite having to play with nine men from the 81st minute after Fabrizio Ficini and Mirco Gasparetto were both sent off. Lazio showed a big improvement following a string of disappointing performances, but they fell apart after Edmilson Cribari was shown a straight red with 20 minutes remaining for a rash challenge on Francesco Pratali. Empoli will be happy to escape with a result which sees them climb to 10th in the table, but a single point is of little consolation to Lazio

Torino 1-1 Messina
Torino coach Alberto Zaccheroni will have to hope that a 1-1 draw with Messina is enough to keep him in a job for another week. Zaccheroni's side, who have won only once all season, came up short again at the Stadio Olimpico against a Messina side reduced to 10 men late in the game. Toro fell behind to a Nicolas Cordova goal just after the half-hour mark, but Roberto Stellone equalised in the 61st minute for the hosts. The visitors from Sicily had Marco Zanchi sent-off for a send yellow card late on, but managed to hold for a point in Turin.

Chievo 0-0 Cagliari
Lowly Chievo remain without a win in Serie A this season as they could only pick up a point in a 0-0 stalemate against the division's draw-specialists Cagliari. Only the points deductions handed to Reggina and Fiorentina at the start of the campaign are keeping Chievo off the bottom. This was just their fourth point of the season, and only their third in the five games Luigi Del Neri has had in his so-far-unsuccessful second spell in charge of the Verona club.

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