– Submitted by Tigull –

SATURDAY 29TH OCTOBER



Roma 2-3 Milan

Milan won the match even though Boateng got sent off with 30 minutes to play, as Roma once more failed to earn points at home. Milan took the lead in the 17th minute thanks to Ibrahimovic’s header from Aquilani’s cross from the right wing. A few minutes passed and another header, this time by Burdisso, tied the match for Roma. From a similar play, Milan took the lead once more, as Nesta was left alone in the box and free to head the ball past Stekelenburg from a corner kick. In the second half, Pjanic tried to score from a long-distance free kick but Abbiati made the save. The Milan goalie was also ready to intervene on Osvaldo seconds later. Ibrahimovic struck again with the fourth header of the match, again from a set-up by Aquilani, to effectively put the match in the bag for Milan and Bojan’s injury time goal had only the purpose to set the final score.

Catania 2-1 Napoli

Napoli lost contact with the top spots in the league while Catania kept their positive home streak alive. Napoli took just 30 seconds to score: former Liverpool defender Dossena made a low cross from the left side of the box which Cavani turned into a goal with a swift touch. Catania kept improving by the minute and eventually tied the score with Marchese, who picked up a loose ball in the box and beat De Sanctis. A few minutes later, Lavezzi broke into Catania’s box and shot past Andujar, but Bellusci saved it on the line with his foot. Santana got his second yellow before half-time and Catania made the most of their numerical advantage. Bergessio put the home team ahead with a header thanks to Almiron’s cross. Gomez wasted the chance to make it 3-1, before Spolli saved another ball with his body on the line which would have made the score 2-2, thus confirming Napoli’s defeat.

Inter 1-2 Juventus

The Old Lady confirmed their league leadership by beating the unconvincing Inter, who are now 11 points adrift of Juventus. Inter’ s start was encouraging but in the 17th minute Vucinic scored for Juventus: Lichtsteiner’ s cross set Matri up for a first-time shot, Castellazzi made the save and the Montenegrin scored off the rebound. Matri had two more chances shortly after, but his efforts were wayward. After an attempt by Zarate, Maicon scored for Inter, as his powerful shot from the right hand side was deflected by Bonucci into the goal. A minute after, Maicon’ s cross was caught by Pazzini, who hit the crossbar with an almost perfect header. This was a bad omen for Inter since just seconds after, Matri laid the ball off to Marchiso who slotted a slow but accurate one past Castellazzi. The second half was played at a slower pace and still Juve had chances with Vucinic, Estigarribia and Del Piero but the score would not change and Juventus conquered the San Siro.

SUNDAY 30TH OCTOBER



Udinese 1-0 Palermo

Udinese are back in the early Scudetto race while Palermo’s away form continues to be a problem. Di Natale celebrated his inclusion in the 50 greats of Europe, running for the Balon d’Or with an astonishing performance. The 34 year old hit the crossbar from a 20-yarder early on, then Basta and Asamoah wasted good chances for Udinese. Palermo had Zahavi trying his luck with a diagonal, but Handanovic made the save. Di Natale scored the match winner and his seventh of the season from a right-footed volley, capitalising on Basta’ s cross. Isla had, for Udinese, a couple of shots stopped by Tzorvas, but again it was Di Natale who stole the show: first a left-footed shot just wide off the target and then an unbelievable flick to set Armero up alone in front of Tzorvas. The Colombian just hit the post, but the final score was already set.

Siena 4-1 Chievo

Siena prevailed in a match between two teams going through rough patches thanks to the form of their offensive players. Mattia Destro (owned by Inter) put Siena ahead with an excellent curved level shot too accurate to allow for Sorrentino to make the save. Cruzado almost made the score level when his free kick was pushed onto the crossbar by Brkic. Siena’ s second was a result of a nice team effort, as D’ Agostino lobbed the ball to Calaiò, whose volley was saved by Sorrentino just to be tapped in by Destro. D’ Agostino himself scored the third with a magnificent left-footed free kick ending right under the woodwork. Moscardelli scored Chievo’s only goal in the 75th minute but Calaiò set the final score minutes later, off a break away.

Bologna 3-1 Atalanta

Atalanta ended their positive streak as Bologna finally earned a win in front of their fans. Yet, it was Atalanta to break the ice when Denis (six goals for him so far) controlled the ball amidst 4 defenders in the box and netted the ball with his left foot. Atalanta seemed more brilliant as Moralez and Bonaventura’ s shots ended just wide. The latter had another chance denied by an onrushing Gillet. When the guests seemed to be able to control the match, Ramirez dribbled his way into Atalanta’s box, was knocked down thus earning a penalty which Di Vaio converted to tie the score. In the second half, Ramirez surprisingly brought Bologna up when he slotted the ball past Consigli thanks to a valuable assist by Kone. The Uruguayan also took the free kick which became the assist for Loria’ s header to make it three for a revitalized Bologna.

Fiorentina 1-0 Genoa

Sinisa Mihajlovic kept his position as Fiorentina coach thanks to a narrow win which granted him renewed trust from the management. Montolivo’ s return was a godsend for the Viola and his long-range shot was the first chance of the match: former Fiorentina keeper Frey made a comfortable save. Jovetic picked up Romulo’ s corner kick in the 24th minute but his header was inaccurate. Shortly after, Genoa finally showed some effort and it was Boruc who had to intervene on Palacio in the box. With five minutes left in the first half, Jovetic lead Fiorentina’ s counter-attack, laid the ball off to Pasqual who crossed from the left side for Lazzari: the midfielder put the ball in Genoa’ s net to make the score 1-0. In the second hafl, Gamberini unbelievably missed the chance to go up 2-0 when his powerful shot 10 feet from the goal line hit the crossbar, but Genoa could not produce anything more than a couple of mid-range shots by Jorquera.

Lecce 1-1 Novara

Neither team could score the winner in a very important match concerning Serie A’ s danger zone. The returning Olivera took a free kick early in the game but his shot ended above Novara’ s goal. On the other end of the field, it was Meggiorini who tried to score from a volley but Benassi was attentive. Minutes later Lecce took the lead: Cuadrado’ s cross from the right wing set Strasser up for the header, and the Milan-owned younger scored his first goal this season. Later in the first half, Meggiorini scored with a spectacular bicycle kick which was disallowed for a questionable off-side. Novara deservedly scored the equalizer just minutes after, when Rigoni earned and converted a righteous penalty kick. Novara’ s second goalie Fontana was the hero in the second half, saving from Corvia (twice) Strasser and Muriel, allowing Novara to earn a precious point.

Parma 2-0 Cesena

Cesena’ s streak without a victory continued, costing Giampaolo his managerial position as Parma took a step towards safety. Parma were more dangerous from the start, with former AZ Alkmaar striker Pellé having a shot turned away by Antonioli. The old Cesena goalie was also ready for Giovinco’ s powerful shot from within the box. The match could have taken a decisive turn when Rodriguez elbowed Giovinco in Cesena’ s box, but Antonioli performed a miracle and saved the Atomic Ant’ s penalty. A few minutes later though, Paletta put Parma ahead with a tap-in following a scramble. Parma secured the win when Lucarelli found the net from 3 yards with a Lucarelli header. Despite Giampaolo’ s yells to give it all, Cesena could not fight back and are now dead last on the table.

Cagliari 0-3 Lazio

Lazio keep in close contact with the Champions League spots after convincingly beating the Rossoblu in Sardinia. The islanders were more lively early on but neither Ariaudo nor Tiago Ribeiro could score the opener. In the 39th minute, Cissé laid the ball off to Lulic, who scored in consecutive matches this time with a curled shot from 20 yards to give Lazio the lead. Nainggolan tried to lift his teammates but his long distance attempt was wide. One minute before half-time Cissé crossed perfectly into the heart of Cagliari’ s box where Miroslav Klose hit his signature diving header to double up for the biancocelesti. Ibarbo and Tiago Ribeiro had repeated chances to make a game of it, but in the end it was Rocchi (100th goal for Lazio) who rounded off the scoring, tapping in his own attempt after hitting the crossbar.