Thursday 1 November 2007

Spotlight - Week 10: Uno, Due, Tre

Here's a round up of the winners and the losers from Week 10 of the Serie A season.

THE WINNERS
David Trezeguet (Juventus): He hadn’t scored in the League since his injury-time winner against Torino back in Week 6, but the Frenchman underlined his fox in the box ability against Empoli. A penalty, a header and a right-footed effort saw him collect his second Serie A hat-trick of the season to get Juve back on track after their defeat at Napoli. Teammate Tiago Mendes, who had a hand in all three of the goals, also deserves credit for his performance.


Alberto Gilardino (Milan): It was like the good old Parma days for Gilardino at Marassi last night. A lone striker capable of hustling defenders, the attacker was decisive in the Rossoneri’s second half destruction of a sorry Sampdoria. After providing Kaka with an assist for the opener, the Italian bagged a brace and is surely now back in the mind of Italy boss Roberto Donadoni ahead of the Scotland decider.

Simone Perrotta (Roma): Not blessed with the technique of a Francesco Totti, Perrotta is the sort of silent leader which every fan craves for their own side. Put him in the starting XI and he’ll give you everything for 90 minutes – especially in a derby. The English-born midfielder put in another sterling display and was rewarded with a goal which ultimately proved to be the winner in the 3-2 Olimpico thriller.

THE LOSERS
Riccardo Zampagna (Atalanta): We saw the bad side of Zampagna in Bergamo on Wednesday evening. His performance took a turn for the worse from the minute he gave away a penalty for handball in the box. Still fuming from that decision, the forward remained edgy right up until the point he was sent-off for a reckless late challenge.

Hernan Crespo (Inter): The Argentine will undoubtedly still be asking himself how he failed to hit the back of the net against Genoa last night. Presented with a number of chances throughout the game, you would have expected a striker of his ability to ripple the net. But it wasn’t to be and his incredible open goal miss from close range will haunt a perfectionist like him for some time.

Bosko Jankovic (Palermo): Handed a starting shirt against Parma, the summer signing lasted for just over an hour before boss Stefano Colantuono had no option but to replace him. Another low key performance, much more was expected of this young attacking midfielder who is clearly struggling to settle at the Stadio Renzo Barbera.

THE GOALS
Gokhan Inler (Udinese): High-flying Udinese grabbed the three points against Torino thanks to a stunner from Inler. The summer signing from FC Zurich played a neat one-two with Antonio Di Natale, cut inside a defender before unleashing a swerving effort from some distance.

Cristian Ledesma (Lazio): He’s only scored three Serie A goals for Lazio and two of those have now been stunners against Roma. Although his effort proved futile, it was the pick of the strikes in the Eternal City last night as his free-kick sailed over the wall, thumped the underside of the bar and bounced back up into the roof of the net.

Juan Vargas (Catania): When the ball was played across to Vargas well outside the penalty area, few expected what happened next. While some defenders would have taken a touch of the ball before launching it into the box, the Peruvian simply pulled the trigger and found the bottom corner of the net with a shot that was under his control from the minute it left his boot.

THE NUMBERS
Still no Siro: Inter’s victory over Genoa means that they have now scored in 43 consecutive games at San Siro. Their quartet in midweek has brought their total goals in that period to 101.

Genoa shut out: Milan’s 5-0 win at Sampdoria last night saw them collect only their second clean sheet of the Serie A season. Their last? Back in Week 1 in the same stadium when they beat Genoa 3-0. Last night’s reverse was also Sampdoria’s first at home this term.

Making his Mirk: Roma boss Luciano Spalletti will find it tough to drop Mirko Vucinic once Francesco Totti returns. The former Lecce striker scored in his third consecutive game against Lazio following his strikes against Sporting Lisbon and Milan.

Source: Antonio Labbate (C4 Football Italia)

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