Serie A - Week 14: Sunday Review

Inter's Serie A lead doubled to six points as they defeated Napoli 2-1 in an afternoon encounter and their neighbours AC Milan lost 3-1 to Palermo in the late game. Roma continued their revival with a 1-0 win over Fiorentina while Lazio, Sampdoria and Udinese were all defeated.

PALERMO 3-1 AC MILAN
AC Milan lost ground on city rivals Inter at the top of Serie A after going down 3-1 at Palermo. The Sicilians dominated the game from start to finish but had to wait until five minutes into the second half before going ahead through Fabrizio Miccoli. Edison Cavani added a second on the hour mark before Fabio Simplicio sealed the win 10 minutes from the end. Ronaldinho scored a consolation from the penalty spot late on having missed from the spot in a first half in which he also hit the crossbar. But Palermo were good value for a win which lifts them three places, leaving Milan in third place, six points adrift of the league leaders.

INTER 2-1 NAPOLI
A Sulley Muntari-inspired Inter notched up their fifth consecutive win in Serie A with victory over Napoli at the San Siro. The Ghana midfielder set up the opener for Ivan Cordoba before scoring his side's second in a frantic first half. Ezequiel Lavezzi pulled one back for Napoli before half time, but in the end it was Inter who were unlucky not to add to their tally before the full-time whistle.

ROMA 1-0 FIORENTINA
Roma's resurgence continued as Francesco Totti's second-half winner helped his side to their third successive win against Fiorentina in an entertaining encounter at the Stadio Olimpico. The Giallorossi captain converted Rodrigo Taddei's cross to pick up his fourth goal of the season and move Roma up to 14th. The home side could have won by more after dominating the match but Totti's goal was enough to see off the Viola who remain sixth.

UDINESE 0-1 CHIEVO
Felipe's own goal two minutes from time gifted struggling Chievo their first away win of the season as 10-man Udinese's slide down the table continued. The defender put the ball into his own net after a mix up with goalkeeper Davide Mandelli to hand Chievo their first maximum-point haul since the opening day of the season. It also denied Udinese the point which they had looked to have earned with a backs-to-the-wall display after the 57th-minute sending off of captain Antonio Di Natale. While basement boys Chievo moved to within three points of safety with the win, Udinese have gone from challenging for top spot to ninth in less than a month.

ATALANTA 2-0 LAZIO
Lazio shot themselves in the foot as they gifted Atalanta both goals to see their poor form of late continue. Good defending from both sides meant chances were hard to come by, but the deadlock was finally broken by Jaime Valdes nine minutes into the second half, before top goalscorer Sergio Floccari pounced on another glaring Lazio error 14 minutes later. The capital club remain in fifth place while Atalanta are still in 10th spot with their fifth home victory of the season.

GENOA 1-1 BOLOGNA
Genoa lost their 100 per cent home record with a draw against a spirited Bologna at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Giuseppe Sculli put the home side in front after 55 minutes but Bologna were good value for their equaliser, scored just after the hour mark by their top goalscorer Marco Di Vaio, who was a Genoa player last season. Di Vaio hit the post in the final seconds as Bologna threatened, but had to settle for their fourth consecutive draw.

CAGLIARI 1-0 SAMPDORIA
Cagliari's run of improved form continued as they leapfrogged Sampdoria in the table. Coming off a draw at Napoli which made them the first team to take a point from the San Paolo this season, they bagged the only goal against Samp courtesy of a strike from Jeda three minutes after the break. In a game of few chances, they had the ball in the back of the net again soon after, but Michele Fini's effort was disallowed. The Sardinian side have now taken 10 points from their last five matches, after managing just seven from their first nine, and sit six points above the relegation zone.

SIENA 1-0 TORINO
Siena maintained their unbeaten home record by grinding out a narrow victory over Torino. The match was a tale of two halves with Siena enjoying a good first half before Torino pressured after the break. Massimo Maccarone's first-half strike was all that separated the two relegation strugglers although Toro came close to an equaliser with a couple of missed chances late on.

SERIE A REVIEW:
[Saturday 29 Nov] - [Sunday 30 Nov]