Serie A - Week 24: Sunday Review

Inter claimed the derby honours with a 2-1 victory against AC Milan that lifted them nine points clear of Juventus in Serie A after the Bianconeri drew with Sampdoria. Adrian Mutu scored a hat-trick as Fiorentina came from 3-0 down to draw at Genoa while Roma failed to take advantage in the race for the Champions League as Atalanta thumped them 3-0.

INTER 2-1 AC MILAN
Inter extended their lead at the top of Serie A to nine points on Sunday night by beating city rivals AC Milan 2-1 in an entertaining derby at the San Siro. Jose Mourinho's side seemed in complete command at the break thanks to a controversial goal from Adriano and Dejan Stankovic's strike. But a second-half rally from the Rossoneri saw Alexandre Pato half the deficit while Milan, who now fall 11 points behind, also had several chances to claim an unlikely point.

JUVENTUS 1-1 SAMPDORIA
Juventus had faltered earlier as they could only manage a 1-1 draw at home against Sampdoria. The visitors opened the scoring ten minutes in when Giampaolo Pazzini found the net following an Antonio Cassano pass but the hosts dominated thereafter. Pavel Nedved and Alessandro Del Piero both struck the woodwork before Amauri finally restored parity on the hour mark by bravely heading in Sebastian Giovinco's cross. The result leaves Juve in second spot, nine points adrift of leaders Inter.

GENOA 3-3 FIORENTINA
Hat-trick hero Adrian Mutu grabbed a last-minute equaliser as Fiorentina came from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with Genoa and deny them fourth spot in Serie A in a dramatic encounter at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Thiago Motta put the home side in front after 12 minutes, but they were forced to play an hour with 10 men after Giuseppe Biava was sent off for a second yellow card. Raffaele Palladino made it two for Genoa after 38 minutes and a penalty from Diego Milito added a third 10 minutes into the second half. Mutu responded from the spot on the hour mark before grabbing a second with a direct free kick after 80 minutes. He completed his hat-trick with the final kick of the game to break the Genoa fans' hearts. The result keeps La Viola in fourth, one point in front of their opponents.

ATALANTA 3-0 ROMA
Roma's unbeaten start to 2009 was brought to a brutal conclusion as they slipped to a 3-0 defeat away to Atalanta. Second-half goals in a devastating seven-minute spell from Daniele Capelli and a Cristiano Doni brace proved the difference as the capital club missed the chance to climb up to fourth in the Serie A standings. The defeat, which leaves Luciano Spalletti's side two points adrift of fourth-placed Fiorentina, was compounded by a late red card for midfielder Simone Perrotta. It was Atalanta's third win in a row after successes against Catania and Cagliari and means Luigi Del Neri's side are in contention for a UEFA Europa League spot.

CAGLIARI 2-0 LECCE
Cagliari kept their European dreams very much alive with a 2-0 victory against strugglers Lecce, who slip ever closer to danger. Michele Fini gave Cagliari the lead four minutes into the second half and Alessandro Matri made sure of the points right at the death. Lecce will feel justly aggrieved, however, after they were denied an equaliser by a dubious offside decision. The Rossoblu, who have now only lost one of their past eight games, leap into seventh spot, just three points behind Roma who occupy the last qualification berth for the Europa League. Lecce remain in 17th place but are now just two points off the bottom three.

SIENA 1-1 UDINESE
Massimo Maccarone and Antonio Di Natale scored the goals as Siena's mid-table clash with Udinese ended all square. Maccarone put the hosts ahead five minutes after half-time after following up to score the rebound when his penalty had been saved. Di Natale then netted a deserved equaliser after 72 minutes when he controlled a pass from Christian Obodo and fired in a right-foot shot.

CHIEVO 1-1 CATANIA
Giuseppe Colucci came off the bench to score in stoppage time and deny his old side Catania their first win since December as they drew 1-1 at Chievo. The decision to allow the much-travelled midfielder to join Domenico di Carlo's side in January proved to be Catania's undoing as he cancelled out Pablo Ledesma's penalty with a close-range tap-in in injury time to snatch a vital point for the relegation-threatened side. The result was Chievo's fourth successive 1-1 draw and moves Di Carlo's side level on points with 18th-placed Torino while Catania remain in 14th.

REGGINA 0-0 PALERMO
Bottom side Reggina extended their unbeaten run to four matches with a well-deserved 0-0 draw against Palermo as they took another small step towards Serie A safety. The southern club are now five points behind fourth-bottom Lecce - defeated 2-0 at Cagliari. The hosts will consider this a point gained after an open encounter which could have gone either way but they know time is running out for them to move out of the bottom three.

SERIE A REVIEW:
[Saturday 14 Feb] - [Sunday 15 Feb]