Serie A - Week 23: Sunday Review

Ten-man Juventus climbed back up to second in Serie A after a last-gasp winner at Catania. Roma crushed Champions League rivals Genoa 3-0 while Fiorentina moved into fourth by beating Lazio 1-0. Elsewhere Atalanta, Palermo and Udinese picked up three vital points.

CATANIA 1-2 JUVENTUS
Substitute Christian Poulsen's stoppage-time winner gave 10-man Juventus a vital three points as they beat Catania 2-1 to move into second spot in the Serie A standings. Vincenzo Iaquinta had given the visitors an early lead with an 11th minute header but instantly went from hero to villain as he was sent off for two yellow card offences - the first for taking his shirt off to celebrate - in less than a minute. The Bianconeri clung on despite heavy pressure from Catania but Gianluigi Buffon, who put in a stunning performance to keep the hosts at bay, was eventually beaten six minutes into the second half by Takayuki Morimoto. It looked like it was going to end all square at the Stadio Angelo Massimino but Poulsen snatched all the points for Claudio Ranieri's men in stoppage time.

ROMA 3-0 GENOA
Roma cooled off red-hot Genoa with three classy goals getting them back to winning ways with a 3-0 victory. Brazilian right-back Cicinho opened the scoring after 26 minutes before Mirko Vucinic's stunning volley made it 2-0 shortly after the restart. Rodrigo Taddei was sent off early in the second half but instead of capitalising on their man advantage, Genoa failed to score and also lost a player themselves when Giuseppe Sculli was given his marching orders with 20 minutes remaining. Substitute Julio Baptista then capped up a wonderful afternoon for the home side by scoring Roma's third deep in stoppage time. The defeat was Genoa's first since November and it also allowed the Romans to join them on 40 points.

FIORENTINA 1-0 LAZIO
Fiorentina narrowly beat 10-man Lazio 1-0 in a highly-charged encounter in Florence to move into fourth spot. Lazio, who played for almost 70 minutes a man down after Lorenzo De Silvestri saw red after 18 minutes, will feel robbed at the result having caused problems for the hosts throughout. Despite their numerical disadvantage the visitors threatened for long periods but were thwarted by an imperious Sebastian Frey in the Viola goal. Pasquale Foggia and Mauro Zarate both hit the woodwork before Alberto Gilardino finally broke the deadlock late on.

PALERMO 2-1 NAPOLI
Palermo got back to winning ways with a strong start setting them up for victory over Napoli in Sicily. Giulio Migliaccio opened the scoring in the second minute and the hosts were 2-0 ahead when Fabio Simplicio found the net after 14 minutes. Marek Hamsik struck for Napoli two minutes before the break but Palermo hung on in the second half to win after back-to-back defeats. The result takes Palermo one place above their opponents into seventh.

CAGLIARI 0-1 ATALANTA
Ten-man Cagliari saw their quest for a fourth successive victory end in a disappointing 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Atalanta. The Sardinian club were at a numerical disadvantage after 40 minutes when Diego Lopez received his second yellow card of the match. And the visitors from Bergamo made their hosts pay midway through the second half as Luca Cigarini bagged the only goal of the game at the Stadio Sant' Elia. The result sees Atalanta climb to ninth in the standings, just one point and one place behind their opponents.

UDINESE 1-0 BOLOGNA
Substitute Alexis Sanchez struck a last-gasp winner as Udinese's resurgence continued with a narrow 1-0 triumph over Bologna. Sanchez came off the bench and hit a superb individual goal after 92 minutes as Udinese extended their unbeaten run to three matches after ending a three-month losing streak with a 2-1 defeat of Juventus. Udinese remain 12th following the triumph, while Bologna stay 16th, just three points above the relegation zone, after their first away loss since November.

SAMPDORIA 2-2 SIENA
Massimo Maccarone stepped off the bench to score an equaliser that ensured Siena avoided a fifth consecutive away league defeat as they drew 2-2 at Sampdoria. The visitors Siena had failed to score during that poor run of away form but they surprised their hosts when they went ahead after 21 minutes through Simone Vergassola. It was perhaps harsh on Samp, who had dominated up until that point. Walter Mazzarri's side did get the goal they deserved through Claudio Bellucci in first-half injury time before Giampaolo Pazzini put them ahead after 51 minutes. But Maccarone would have the final say with 11 minutes remaining, making an immediate impact off the bench with a simple tap-in goal just a minute after coming on.

TORINO 1-1 CHIEVO
Vincenzo Italiano came off the bench to rescue a point for Chievo at Torino and secure their third successive 1-1 draw. The Flying Donkeys held Lecce and Sampdoria in their previous two games and Italiano made it three out of three, preserving their unbeaten record in 2009 as a result. His strike will have come as a major blow for Torino, however, who looked set to record their first win since December when Nicola Ventola put them ahead 19 minutes into the second half. A draw was probably the right result after an entertaining game which looked like it would go the hosts' way in the early stages as they poured forward.

SERIE A REVIEW:
[Saturday 7 Feb] - [Sunday 8 Feb]