Juventus 2-3 Cagliar
iNapoli 2-2 Udinese
Atalanta 1-0 Catania
Chievo 1-1 Sampdoria
Genoa 1-0 Palermo
Lazio 0-3 AC Milan
Inter 1-1 Torino
Reggina 2-2 Roma
Siena 1-2 Lecce
On Saturday, Juventus lost their second straight game despite leading 2-1 at home to Cagliari, who have started 2009 in stunning fashion – unbeaten thus far. Biondini gave the visitors the lead before two goals in six minutes from Momo Sissoko and Pavel Nedved put Juventus in front. However, Jeda scored his second goal in a week , converting Cossu’s cross to level up, before Matri scored a 78th minute winner capping a memorable display of lightning counter-attack football from the Sardinians.
Also on Sunday, Napoli looked to be cruising at home to Udinese after Ezeqiuel Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik, the young frontmen who have been dazzling Italians this season, scored within three minutes of each other to put the hosts 2-0 up. Udinese, to their credit, fought back and Antonio Di Natale pulled one back via the penalty spot Fabio Quagliarella struck an absolutely sublime volley (seriously, look it up on YouTube, it is sensational) to equalise, and that is how it stayed. Napoli’s stumbling start to 2009 continues.
On Sunday, Inter could only manage a lacklustre draw at home to Torino that continues their poor start to 2009. The only thing keeping them top is the misfiring challenge of Juventus. Torino took the lead through Man City reject Rolando Bianchi just after half time, before Nicolas Burdisso equalized 10 minutes later. Both Hernan Crespo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck the woodwork late on, and Ricardo Quaresma, heckled by the home fans throughout his substitute appearance, also missed a good chance.
Inter remain 6 points clear as AC Milan jumped above Juventus following their comfortable dispatching of Lazio. David Beckham provided assists for Pato and Ambrosini for the first two goals before Kaka added a third. Genoa continued their excellent form with a 1-0 victory over Palermo. They made it hard for themselves despite dominating the game, with Diego Milito, Giuseppe Biava and Domenico Criscito missing good chances before Criscito eventually forced home an 88th minute winner for a deserved victory, that keeps them in fourth.
Roma’s superb run was halted by Reggina of all teams, although a portion of it can be put down to the truly atrocious weather conditions at the Stadio Oreste. The Calabrians went ahead through Francesco Cozza before David Pizarro equalized from range with a fearsome strike and then followed that up from the penalty spot. Reggina levelled with a penalty of their own from Bernardo Corradi, although at 7 points adrift they need more than equalisers at home now. Elsewhere, Gianpaolo Pazzini produced a moment of class to score an equalizer for Sampdoria at struggling Chievo and Atalanta continued their excellent home form with a win over Catania, who were livid that a Mascara effort was incorrectly ruled out for offside late on. Lecce scored an important away win in their fight against the drop thanks to goals in each half from Tiribocchi and Jose Castillo against Siena.
Bologna’s game against Fiorentina was put back a day due to heavy snow in Emilia-Romagna but it only served to delay the inevitable for the Rossoblu as Adrian Mutu netted twice in a 3-1 win at puts La Viola into fifth position. Alberto Gilardino sealed the win after Nicola Mingazzini had pulled one back for the embattled northerners.
No comments:
Post a Comment