Serie A - Week 5: Sunday Review

Ronaldinho picked the perfect day to claim his first Serie A goal as his header gave AC Milan a 1-0 victory against Inter in the Milanese derby, allowing Lazio to move to the summit with a win at Torino. Roma picked up three points against Atalanta and Napoli remain unbeaten, defeating Bologna.

AC MILAN 1-0 INTER
Jose Mourinho tasted his first Milan derby and his first defeat as coach of Inter on Sunday night, going down to Carlo Ancelotti's AC Milan. Ronaldinho scored his first goal for the Rossoneri after 36 minutes and his goal proved to be enough to down the defending champions in the 269th Derby della Madonnina. Inter lost Nicolas Burdisso to a red card after 77 minutes while Marco Materazzi was also sent to the stands from the Inter bench after protesting vociferously in a fiery end to the match in front of 80,000 fans at the San Siro.

TORINO 1-3 LAZIO
Mauro Zarate was once again the star of the show as Lazio claimed top spot in Serie A with a comfortable 3-1 victory at Torino, although the match ended on a sour note as the hosts were reduced to nine men in a stormy finish. Zarate set up Goran Pandev's opener after half an hour and then doubled Lazio's lead soon after the hour mark. With less than 10 minutes to go, Matteo Sereni saw red for bringing down Christian Brocchi in the box, and Zarate stepped up to score Lazio's third from the penalty spot. Francesco Pratali also saw red for Toro before Nicola Amoruso got them a consolation goal from the spot, but home coach Gianni De Biasi was not around to see it after being sent from the sidelines as tempers flared.

ROMA 2-0 ATALANTA
Roma recovered from their midweek defeat at Genoa with a 2-0 victory against Atalanta at the Stadio Olimpico. The Giallorossi's second Serie A win of the season was sealed by first-half goals from Christian Panucci and Mirko Vucinic, although both came with a touch of fortune. Atalanta were unable to find a response, despite dominating in the second half, as Roma held onto their advantage and only their second victory of the season.

BOLOGNA 0-1 NAPOLI
A late strike from substitute German Denis maintained Napoli's unbeaten start to the Serie A and inflicted a fourth successive defeat on Bologna. The Argentinian forward broke the deadlock with just three minutes left on the clock to snatch the spoils for the visitors, who climb to second in the table as a result. Bologna are heading the other way in the standings though with just one win all season, and remain in the bottom three. That does not bode well for Rossoblu coach Daniele Arrigoni, who has come under fire for the team's dismal start to the campaign since beating AC Milan on the opening day.

UDINESE 2-1 SIENA
Simone Pepe struck his second goal of the week to help Udinese claim back-to-back wins against Siena at the Stadio Friuli. Fabio Quagliarella opened the scoring after 22 minutes on his return to the first team before Pepe doubled his side's advantage seven minutes later. And the 25-year-old midfielder's strike would prove to be decisive as Houssine Kharja grabbed a goal back for Siena after 38 minutes, but it was not enough. Victory for Udinese comes hot on the heels of their 3-0 win over Bologna in midweek and moves them up to third in the table.

PALERMO 1-0 REGGINA
Davide Ballardini's promising start to life as Palermo coach continued as Fabrizio Miccoli's second-half strike prolonged Reggina's dismal early-season form. The former Italy international struck after 52 minutes to condemn Reggina to their fourth defeat in their opening five Serie A fixtures and leave them second-bottom in the table with just a solitary point. While the new coach celebrated his third win in four games after previous victories over Roma and Genoa.

LECCE 2-0 CAGLIARI
Lecce piled the misery on Cagliari and their coach Massimiliano Allegri with a comfortable victory. Goals in either half from Guillermo Giacomazzi and Jose Castillo left Cagliari without a single point to show from their five games so far this season. While Allegri has retained the confidence of the club's board to date, the pressure from the fans in Sardinia is growing after they were second best once again.

CATANIA 1-0 CHIEVO
Catania gave further evidence they could be the surprise package in Serie A this season by moving into the top five with a 1-0 victory over Chievo. Michele Paolucci scored the only goal of the game to earn the hosts their third 1-0 win of the season and extend their 100% home record. The Sicilians only survived relegation by a single point last term, but their early-season form already suggests they will have loftier ambitions this year. Chievo, though, finished the game with 10 men after Davide Mandelli was sent off five minutes from time, and find themselves hovering just a point above the bottom three.

SERIE A REVIEW:
[Saturday 27 Sep] - [Sunday 28 Sep]