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  • Monday 9 March 2009

    Serie A Round 27: Inter crack Genoa fortress

    Roma 1-1 Udinese
    Genoa 0-2 Inter
    Torino 0-1 Juventus
    Milan 3-0 Atalanta
    Bologna 3-0 Sampdoria
    Catania 0-3 Siena
    Lecce 0-0 Reggina
    Fiorentina 0-2 Palermo
    Napoli 0-2 Lazio
    Chievo 1-1 Cagliari

    Inter came away from the potential stumbling block of a visit to Genoa, unbeaten at home, with a 2-0 victory which should give them a boost ahead of this week’s crucial trip to Manchester. This was a clinical display, Zlatan Ibrahimovic putting the Nerazzuri in front early with a lovely chipped finish before Mario Balotelli added to his burgeoning reputation by doubling the lead in the second half, nudging the ball past Rubino. It is a result that sees Genoa miss out on the chance to break the top four.

    There was some stubborn resistance in Turin as Juventus struggled to break down local rivals Torino, which is becoming a recurring theme for the Gobbini. In the end, Giorgio Chiellini headed home Pavel Nedved’s free kick but not after Buffon had been called into action on a number of occasions.

    AC Milan had no such troubles, breezing past Atalanta at the San Siro thanks to an inspired hat-trick from the veteran Filipo Inzaghi. He scored his first on seven minutes, then added two in 3 minutes during the second half to seal a win which sees the Rossoneri five points clear of Fiorentina, who suffered a shock home defeat to Palermo. The Sicilians were looking for vengeance after their humiliating defeat to Catania the week before, and achieved it through a double from the excellent Fabrizio Miccoli.

    Roma drew with Udinese on Saturday evening in what was a frustrating afternoon for the Giallorossi. After Felipe gave the visitors the lead, Daniele De Rossi was sent off and only a late intervention from Mirko Vucinic (we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – he’s a top, top player) spared Spalleti’s blushes.

    Roma are sixth, four points ahead of their city rivals after Lazio beat Napoli 2-0 through a Tommasso Rocchi brace. Rocchi has not been able to produce last season’s stellar form but could just be coming good at the right time – the same cannot be said of Napoli who have now gone winless in 9 and Edy Reja is under mounting pressure after setting the early pace.

    At the other end of the table, Serie A top scorer Marco Di Vaio netted the second hat-trick of the weekend to give Bologna a 3-0 win over inconsistent Sampdoria and take his season's tally to 19. Reggina, four adrift at the foot of the table, drew 0-0 at second-bottom Lecce but were unfortunate when Bernardo Corradi's effort was ruled not to have crossed the line. Elsewhere, Siena put further distance between them and the relegation places with a 3-0 win at Catania, Cagliari's faint European hopes took a hit with a 1-1 draw at 18th-placed Chievo and the bottom-of-the-table clash between Lecce and Reggina ended 0-0.

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