Sunday, 12 November 2006

Serie A Wk 11: Review

Saturday 11 November
Milan 1-2 Roma
Francesco Totti struck twice as Roma clinched their first win at the San Siro in 20 years for Milan's fourth defeat in five Serie A games. Totti's goals, which came at the beginning and near the end of the game, were enough for the Romans who put up a strong defensive display in an entertaining encounter. The home side did hit the woodwork twice before Cristian Brocchi had equalised for the hosts shortly before the hour mark, when he hit a powerful shot into the bottom right hand corner. The triumph capped up a perfect week for the Giallorossi, who last time out in Serie A overcame Fiorentina 3-1 and then won 2-1 at Triestina in the Coppa Italia on Wednesday. The defeat, which is Milan's third home loss on the trot, piles more pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti.

Fiorentina 3-1 Atalanta
Giampaolo Pazzini scored twice in the dying stages as Fiorentina came from behind to secure a crucial 3-1 victory over high-flying Atalanta. Giulio Migliaccio gave the away side the lead, before Adrian Mutu levelled for Fiorentina almost immediately. Pazzini then struck in the 89th minute and again deep into stoppage time to secure Fiorentina's sixth league win of the season. The Viola - who were hit with a 15-point deduction for their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal - now have three points and appear certain to move out of the relegation zone
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Sunday 12 November
Palermo 3-0 Torino
Palermo crushed Torino 3-0 at the Stadio Renzo Barbera to stay top of the Serie A standings on 27 points and continue their Scudetto hopes. Eugenio Corini gave the hosts a 43rd-minute lead before David Di Michele doubled his team's advantage shortly after the hour mark. Carvalho Amauri wrapped up a wonderful afternoon for the Sicilians with a 78th-minute strike. Alberto Zaccheroni's men, still looking for their first triumph on the road, have just eight points from 11 games.

Parma 1-2 Inter
Substitute Julio Cruz's last-minute goal sank Parma as Inter rejoined Palermo at the top of Serie A on Sunday evening. Parma looked to have secured a point after Igor Budan's 25th-minute goal had cancelled out Zlatan Ibrahimovic's opener. But Inter struck deep into injury time for a dramatic triumph to silence the fans at the Stadio Ennio Tardini. The Nerazzurri finished the game down to 10 men after Ibrahimovic was sent off with seconds remaining for a second bookable offence.


Lazio 5-0 Udinese
Classy Lazio thrashed 10-man Udinese 5-0 to return to winning ways at the Stadio Olimpico. The Biancoceleste's last victory was on September 30 but Delio Rossi's men finally gave their fans something to smile about with a wonderful display. Tommaso Rocchi and Stefano Mauri both struck twice while captain Massimo Oddo added his team's fourth in the 78th minute. A toothless Udinese were forced to play with a numerical inferiority for the last 12 minutes of the game after Felipe was sent off for two bookable offences.

Catania 3-2 Livorno
Catania have climbed into the top six after an entertaining 3-2 victory over Livorno at the Stadio Massimino. An injury time strike by Giorgio Corona was enough for the Sicilians, who were trailing on the hour mark after goals by Ibrahima Bakayoko and Paulo Sergio Betanin had put the visitors ahead. Pasquale Marino's men had themselves taken the lead 10 minutes before half-time through Gionatha Spinesi and equalised when Fabio Caserta struck after 61 minutes, but in the end the coach would have been thrilled to claim all the points. The victory means his team continue their impressive home run which has seen them remain unbeaten with two wins and three draws even though they had to play two of those games on neutral soil.

Messina 2-2 Cagliari
Daniele Conti struck in injury time to earn draw specialists Cagliari a point against Messina in the battle of the islands in the Derby delle Isole at the Stadio San Filippo. Conti was somewhat fortunate to find the net with a cross-cum-shot two minutes into stoppage time but he will not care one jot as the Sardinians claimed their eighth draw in their last nine Serie A games. Christian Rigano, the league's leading scorer, looked to have given the Sicilians maximum points when he added another goal to his burgeoning collection in the 63rd minute. Rigano had put his side 2-1 ahead with a deft lob after he left the Cagliari defence for dead with a powerful run. The strike was the 32-year-old's eighth of the campaign and added to Messina's opener, scored by Nicolas Cordova in the 35th minute with a well-taken free-kick. That had been cancelled out eight minutes into the second half by Mauro Esposito, who opened his account for the season two months into the campaign with a low diagonal drive.

Siena 0-1 Reggina
Rolando Bianchi's second-half penalty saw Reggina move out of the red with a narrow 1-0 triumph at high-flying Siena. Walter Mazzari's side remain rooted to the bottom of the Serie A standings, but have now erased the 15-point deduction imposed on them for their part in the Calciopoli scandal. Surprise package Siena, who began the day in fourth spot, still sit pretty a healthy 16 points better off than their opponents, although they too would be doing even better had they not had a single point chalked off for missing a tax deadline.

Sampdoria 3-0 Chievo
Sampdoria built on their midweek Coppa Italia win over Palermo with a comfortable 3-0 win over Chievo at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. After Emiliano Bonazzoli gave Samp a 19th-minute lead, Fabio Quagliarella took centre stage with two fine goals before half time to decide the match. Chievo lost Federico Cossato to a second yellow card just four minutes into the second half and the 10 men could not make any inroads on the result while Samp were happy to defend their lead. The Flying Donkeys are still without a victory this season.

Ascoli 0-1 Empoli
Antonio Busce's solitary early strike fired Empoli up the Serie A table and left Ascoli still searching for their first win of the season. Ascoli deserved to take a point from the encounter, but lacked ideas in the attacking third. Busce's seventh-minute header moved Luigi Cagni's side into eighth, ending a six-game winless streak in Serie A, and built on the midweek Coppa Italia win over Genoa, while Ascoli remain fourth bottom a point clear of Fiorentina, who occupy the final spot in the relegation zone.

1 comment:

  1. Totti was superb, and Roma worked hard to get that result. They are playing some good football at present, especially on the break. I'm not sure what Milan can do to turn around their fortunes, but as a follower of the giallorossi I'm not too troubled by their present slump!

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