Serie A - Week 4: Midweek Review

Inter secured a late win and are the outright leaders in Serie A after Juventus were frustrated by Catania. Elsewhere a scintillating Lazio beat Fiorentina, Roma's disastrous start to the season continued and Milan clinched another three points.

LAZIO 3-0 FIORENTINA
Lazio thrashed a disappointing Fiorentina 3-0 at the Stadio Olimpico to continue their impressive start to the season. The Biancoceleste took advantage of a poor defensive display from the Viola with second half goals from Stefano Mauri, Goran Pandev and Sebastiano Siviglia. The scoreline could have been worse had it not been for some great saves from Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey.

INTER 1-0 LECCE
Julio Cruz stepped off the bench to score the only goal of the game against Lecce and send Inter clear at the top of the Serie A table. New Inter boss Jose Mourinho built his reputation on making match-winning substitutions during his time at Chelsea and so it proved at the San Siro night as Cruz netted, following a cross from fellow substitute Maicon, just seven minutes after coming on for defender Cristian Chivu. The Argentinian's strike came with 11 minutes remaining to eventually break down a well-organised Lecce and send Inter a point clear at the summit.

JUVENTUS 1-1 CATANIA
A goal from Gianvito Plasmati midway through the second half earned Catania a point against Juventus, and in the process brought the Old Lady's fragile winning run to an abrupt end. Juve had moved up to second in Serie A after two narrow 1-0 wins, with Brazilian striker Amauri grabbing the vital goal each time, and he looked like doing the business again after giving the hosts the lead after just 16 minutes. But Catania, who held the Bianconeri to two 1-1 draws in the league last season, refused to throw in the towel and were rewarded for their efforts when second-half substitute Plasmati headed in an equaliser 22 minutes from time.

GENOA 3-1 ROMA
Genoa picked up their second major scalp at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris this season with a 3-1 win over Roma. After beating AC Milan 10 days ago, the Rossoblu earned only their second win of the season at the expense of 10-man Roma, who were forced to play the last 20 minutes without Daniele De Rossi. Giuseppe Sculli put the hosts ahead in the fourth minute with De Rossi equalising in the 28th before two second half goals from Diego Milito sent Luciano Spalletti's side crashing to their second defeat of the season and saw Genoa move above them in the Serie A table.

REGGINA 1-2 AC MILAN
Brazilian youngster Alexandre Pato ensured AC Milan continued their resurgence with victory at Reggina. The 19-year-old scored the winner with less than 20 minutes remaining after Bernado Corradi, Reggina's only goalscorer in the league so far, had equalised Marco Borriello's opener for Milan. The victory, the visitor's second in succession in Serie A, relieves some of the pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti ahead of the derby with Inter this Sunday and comes on the back of a 4-1 win over Lazio at the weekend.

NAPOLI 2-1 PALERMO
Napoli held off a late Palermo comeback to notch their second win of the season despite being outplayed for long periods at the Stadio San Paolo. Fabrizio Miccoli stepped up to score from the penalty spot with seven minutes remaining to set up a tense finale to the game after a goal in each half from Marek Hamsik and Marcelo Zalayeta had put the hosts in charge. The win keeps Napoli's unbeaten start to the season intact and moves the club into the top four.

BOLOGNA 0-3 UDINESE
Antonio Floro Flores scored one and created two more to inspire Udinese to victory over 10-man Bologna. The former Italy Under-21 striker won the penalty with which Gaetano D'Agostino gave the visitors the lead and then scored himself after rounding off a fine breakaway move. Floro Flores then laid on the third goal for Simone Pepe as Udinese picked up their second win over the season and inflicted a third straight defeat on top-flight new boys Bologna. The hosts, who have not picked up a point since beating AC Milan on the opening day of the season, played for most of the game with 10 men after Miguel Britos was sent off for bringing down Floro Flores to concede the penalty.

ATALANTA 1-0 CAGLIARI
Sergio Floccari struck a late winner to give high-flying Atalanta their third win of the season and leave rock-bottom Cagliari still searching for their first point. Floccari took advantage of a debatable decision not to flag him offside to slot the ball past Federico Marchetti with ten minutes remaining. The win was Atalanta's third 1-0 success of the season and takes them up to third, while Cagliari have now failed to score in their last three games.

SIENA 0-0 SAMPDORIA
Sampdoria failed to register their first win of the season as they were held to a goalless draw by Siena. Both sides struggled to create any clear-cut chances in a game dominated by the defence. The result means four games without a win in Serie A for Sampdoria and leaves them in the bottom four.

CHIEVO 1-1 TORINO
Michele Marcolini scored for the second home game in succession to protect Chievo's proud record at the Stadio Bentegodi, although the newly-promoted side could have collected all three points against 10-man Torino. Chievo are unbeaten at home since December - a key factor in their promotion last season - however that record looked in danger when Rolando Bianchi scored from the penalty spot 10 minutes before half-time. That goal was perhaps harsh on the hosts who had contributed to an open encounter, but their reward was not long coming after the break as Marcolini netted with just five minutes of the second half gone. The home side pushed for a winner, and were twice denied by visiting goalkeeper Matteo Sereni, but in the end they could find no further way past Torino, who had Aimo Diana sent-off deep into injury-time for a dangerous tackle.

SERIE A REVIEW:
[Wednesday 24 Sep]