1 February 2012
CAGLIARI 4 (Ribeiro 6, Pinilla 41, Ribeiro 49, Ekdal 92)
ROMA 2 (Juan 13, Borini 34)
Ribeiro gave Cagliari the lead with a thundering shot from 25 yards. Both feet left the floor as he generated tremendous power. Juan headed in the equaliser from a corner. Agazzi slapped down a Pjanic free kick and Borini fired in the rebound. Pisano hit a longball upto Cossu, he found Pinilla with a cross out wide, a super first touch took him away from a defender and he shot past Stekelenburg, possibly via a deflection.
Pinilla sent Ribeiro clear of Roma's ludicrously high line and once again he beat Stekelenburg with a ferocious shot from distance, the ball crashing in off the underside of the crossbar. In injury time Ibarbo collected a loose ball deep in his own half, he ran at Juan and Kjaer, turned the Brazilian twice, ran through a desperate sliding tackle and then pulled the ball back for Ekdal to score and complete the double over Roma.
Attendance : 10,000
Assists : Conti, Totti (ck), n/a, Cossu, Pinilla, Ibarbo
INTER 4 (Milito 22, Milito 55 Pen, Milito 61, Milito 68)
PALERMO 4 (Mantovani 16, Miccoli 52, Miccoli 66, Miccoli 85)
An unmarked Mantovani turned in a Miccoli corner at the back post. Milito tapped in a rebound after a Pazzini shot came back off the Palermo defence. Miccoli took the ball wide left as he ran onto a pass, Ranocchia forced him further away from goal yet he still managed to fire off a brilliant left foot shot which spun into the opposite corner. 1-2. Munoz pulled back Nagatomo to concede the penalty. Milito beat the Palermo offside trap and rounded Viviano before tapping into an empty net to complete his hat-trick. Balzaretti fired back a terrible Ranocchia clearance and Miccoli connected with a brave diving header. Palombo found Zanetti in acres of space with a great crossfield pass, Pazzini sliced his centre and Milito pounced to scored his fourth, 4-3. Miccoli ran wide left again and this time Lucio couldn't stop him as he angled a shot into the bottom right corner. Hat-trick 4-4.
Not only was this probably the best game ever played in snow in a completely pointless trivia note it was also almost certainly the first time ever 8 goals have been scored in one game by players with a surname starting with the letter M.
Attendance : 18,000
Assists : Miccoli (ck), n/a, Budan, Nagatomo (won pen), Cambiasso, Balzaretti, Pazzini, Ilicic
LAZIO 2 (Hernanes 76, Rocchi 85)
MILAN 0
Milan should have been awarded a penalty when Dias punched a cross away from El Shaarawy. Thiago Silva inadvertently helped on a Gonzalez pass and Hernanes held off Nesta to fire an early shot past Abbiati. Lulic played a ball inside Abate and Emanuelson to Hernanes and ran into the box onto Hernanes' return pass, he pulled the ball back from the goal-line for Rocchi to shoot first time past Abbiati. Lazio's first victory over Milan since 1998.
Had I wrote this on Wednesday I would have said Juventus have one hand on the scudetto but then they go and draw against lowly Siena while Allegri bottled another big game in a limp draw against Napoli.
Attendance : 30,000
Assists : n/a, Lulic
NAPOLI 0
CESENA 0
Attendance : 25,000
Assists : n/a
UDINESE 2 (Pazienza 2, Di Natale 37)
LECCE 1 (Di Michele 27)
Pazienza headed in a Di Natale free kick. Di Michele equalised with a cracking left foot shot from 25 yards out. Floro Flores jumped to kick a high ball away from a defender at head height (Lecce should have been awarded a foul for dangerous play) then centred for Di Natale to score the winner.
Attendance : 7,000
Assists : Di Natale (fk), Muriel, Floro Flores
NOVARA 1 (Mascara 79)
CHIEVO 2 (Pellissier 33, Thereau 78)
Chievo were well on top in the first half. The Novara defence made the criminal mistake of allowing a cross to bounce in the box, Pellissier even had time to take an extra touch before smashing in from close range. Chievo scored a lovely second goal. Thereau ran up the middle before passing out wide left to Paci, Paci side stepped a defender as he cut infield and passed to Sammarco, Sammarco checked outside a defender before pulling the ball back to Thereau who slammed a first time shot into the corner. Mascara met a brilliant Rigoni cross with a spectacular diving header at the back post. His first goal for Novara since his move from Napoli.
Thereau is a very good, mid-table level striker. If he was a few years younger he'd be a good pick up for one of the top sides.
Attendance : 8,000
Assists : Drame, Sammarco, Rigoni