Serie A - Week 21: Midweek Review

Inter stretched their lead at the top of Serie A to six points with a 2-0 win at Catania while second-placed Juventus lost to Udinese and AC Milan were held by Genoa. Roma's climb up the table continued against Palermo, Fiorentina edged Napoli and Sampdoria beat Lazio.

UDINESE 2-1 JUVENTUS
Struggling Udinese dented in-form Juventus' Scudetto ambitions with an excellent 2-1 win at the Stadio Friuli. Pasquale Marino's side had collected just three points in their past 11 league games and the rough patch had seen them fall to 14th in the standings. However goals by Fabio Quagliarella and Antonio Di Natale secured a sublime victory for Marino's side with Vincenzo Iaquinta's late penalty not enough to salvage a point for Claudio Ranieri's team.

CATANIA 0-2 INTER
Inter overcame the first-half dismissal of Sulley Muntari to post a workmanlike 2-0 win over Catania and extend their lead at the Serie A summit to six points. With Juve slipping up, goals from Dejan Stankovic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic sealed three points for Inter that sees Jose Mourinho's men re-establish a comfortable cushion at the top of the order. It was not all plain sailing for Inter, however. Catania were unlucky not to score in the first half when Michele Paolucci had an effort ruled out for a debatable foul, while Muntari was shown a straight red for the visitors on the half-hour mark after a bad lunge on Giacomo Tedesco.

AC MILAN 1-1 GENOA
David Beckham scored his second goal for Milan in front of England coach Fabio Capello but it was not enough to help the Rossoneri defeat battling Genoa. Beckham struck an unstoppable free-kick after 33 minutes to hand Milan a lead that they held until three minutes from time when Diego Milito pounced. Genoa were good value for their point after a strong second-half recovery. The result leaves Milan eight points adrift of league leaders Inter while Genoa stay fourth.

ROMA 2-1 PALERMO
Roma captain Francesco Totti made his first appearance of 2009 and had a hand in both goals as the Giallorossi remained red hot with victory over Palermo. Out since December because of injury, Totti made a dramatic return by opening the scoring midway through the first half. After Edison Cavani equalised just past the half-hour mark, Totti's pass was nodded in by Matteo Brighi for what proved to be the winner on the stroke of half-time. The outcome has left Roma fifth in the standings - just one point behind fourth-place Genoa, who hold the last Champions League qualifying spot.

FIORENTINA 2-1 NAPOLI
Fiorentina picked up their first win of 2009 with a hard-fought 2-1 home victory over Napoli. The hosts took the lead two minutes into the second half through Mario Santana only for Luigi Vitale to level matters two minutes later. Riccardo Montolivo put the Viola ahead for a second time with 11 minutes remaining and this time it proved decisive. Napoli's woe was compounded by the last-minute dismissal of Francesco Montervino. The result moves the Viola two points and one place above their opponents - who have now lost three on the trot - in sixth spot.

SAMPDORIA 3-1 LAZIO
Two goals in three second-half minutes gave Sampdoria a comfortable victory over Lazio to keep the hosts three places clear of the Serie A relegation zone. Gennaro Delvecchio put the Blucerchiati in the lead with the first meaningful attack of the match after 14 minutes, before Tommaso Rocchi returned fire for the visitors to send the sides in level at the break. But Antonio Cassano restored Sampdoria's lead after 51 minutes, and Marius Stankevicius made sure of the points with a third goal soon afterwards - rendering a missed penalty by Claudio Bellucci irrelevant.

ATALANTA 0-1 BOLOGNA
Bologna moved five points clear of the Serie A drop zone with a 1-0 victory at Atalanta. Sergio Volpi drilled a long-range free-kick into the bottom corner 10 minutes from time as the Rossoblu returned to winning ways following last weekend's 4-1 defeat to AC Milan. The home hammering on Sunday ended a run of nine games without defeat for Bologna and marked coach Sinisa Mihajlovic's first loss since taking charge in November. Atalanta remain in mid-table following their second consecutive 1-0 defeat.

CAGLIARI 1-0 SIENA
Cagliari continued their bid to move away from the Serie A relegation zone and maintain an unlikely bid for a UEFA Cup spot as Robert Acquafresca's first-half strike sunk Siena. Acquafresca scored the only goal of the game eight minutes before the break as Cagliari moved to within four points of sixth-placed Fiorentina. The victory was the third in a row for the Sardinian side, who are unbeaten since the start of the year - a run which includes a 1-1 draw at Inter and a 4-1 win at Lazio.

TORINO 0-0 REGGINA
Two sides mired in the Serie A relegation zone failed to grasp the chance to ease their worries as Torino were held to a goalless draw by bottom side Reggina. Toro bossed possession and had the bulk of the chances but a combination of poor finishing and bad luck kept the scoreline blank. Blerim Dzemaili came closest to finding a winner when he rattled the frame of the Reggina goal 15 minutes from time. The result marks a positive start for re-appointed Reggina coach Nevio Orlandi, who saw his side end a three-match losing streak with this result. Reggina remain bottom of the pile, however, five points from safety and three behind third-bottom Torino.

CHIEVO 1-1 LECCE
Andrea Mantovani's late leveller salvaged a 1-1 draw for Chievo as each team had a man sent off in their Serie A relegation battle in Verona. The visitors led for more than half an hour thanks to Giuseppe Vives' 56th-minute opener which came shortly after the sending off of Chievo's Davide Mandelli. Medina Da Silva Fabiano was also sent off for a second yellow card and Chievo struck the equaliser with just two minutes left. The result leaves Lecce one place above the drop zone - two points above their second-from-bottom opponents.

SERIE A REVIEW:
[Wednesday 28 Jan]