22 December 2012

INTER 1 (Cambiasso 85)
GENOA 1 (Immobile 77)

Antonelli sent a longball down the left channel, Immobile plucked it out of the air with a Cassano like first touch, turned Ranocchia inside out then blasted a shot through Handanovic. Cambiasso headed in the equaliser from a Cassano cross. Inter youth team player Marko Livaja, who gained notoriety for some appalling finishing in a UEFA Cup tie earlier this season, shot against a post standing a yard out. In truth Inter were lucky to get a point. They're a shit side.

Attendance : 40,695
Assists : Antonelli, Cassano


ATALANTA 1 (Denis 40 Pen)
UDINESE 1 (Muriel 33)

Muriel met a cross with an acrobat volley at the back post which Consigli should have saved but nonetheless at least he's off the mark for the season. Stendardo fell from a Angella hand off to win a cheap penalty.

Angella has come from nowhere this season and forced his way into the Udinese first team. He's big, handy in front of goal and only 23. One to keep an eye on.

Attendance : 16,000
Assists : Pasquale, n/a


BOLOGNA 1 (Sorensen 54)
PARMA 2 (Valdes 56, Sansone 66)

Kone headed a Diamanti free kick against a post, Parma tried to scramble the ball clear but Bologna kept the attack alive and Sorensen scored. Valdes ran from centre circle before letting rip with a sensational right footed shot which violently swerved inside the left post. Great goal. Sansone volleyed in a Gobbi centre to complete an unexpected turnaround as Bologna failed to build on their incredible victory against Napoli, who they incidentally also beat in the Coppa Italia in mid-week again at the San Paolo.

Attendance : 16,772
Assists : n/a, Biabiany, Gobbi


PALERMO 0
FIORENTINA 3 (Jovetic 50, Jovetic 83 Pen, Rodriguez 89 Pen)

Jovetic scored for the first time seven games, getting goalside of Donati onto Cuadrado's pass before nutmegging Ujkani. Toni made the most of minimal contact from the former Celtic midfielder to win the first penalty and the second was for handball.

Attendance : 14,562
Assists : Cuadrado, Toni (won pen), n/a


SAMPDORIA 0
LAZIO 1 (Hernanes 31)

Attendance : 21,123
Assist : Lulic


SIENA 0
NAPOLI 2 (Maggio 86, Cavani 90 Pen)

Hamsik drilled a centre across the face of goal and Maggio, who has been awful since the Euros, tapped past Pegolo. Pandev ran into a Siena defender to win the penalty. A bad week for Serie A referees.

Attendance : 9,489
Assists : Hamsik, Pandev (won pen)


TORINO 2 (Sardo 12 og, Gazzi 26)
CHIEVO 0

Sardo headed a corner into his own net and Gazzi fired in Torino's second from the edge of the box. An important win for Torino that keeps their heads above the relegation zone, for the time being.

Attendance : 15,000
Assists : n/a, n/a


ROMA 4 (Burdisso 13, Osvaldo 23, Lamela 30, Lamela 61)
MILAN 2 (Pazzini 87 Pen, Bojan 88)

Burdisso headed in a Pjanic corner. El Shaarawy wasted a great chance to equalise when he tried to round Goicoechea instead of doing what he normally does - open his body and shoot into a corner. Osvaldo got above the dreadful Yepes, who was at fault for the three headed goals, to head in another cross. De Sciglio's sloppy clearance came to De Rossi and he split the Milan defence with a great disguised pass and Lamela shot over Amelia. Lamela headed in Roma's fourth from a Balzaretti cross. Pazzini and Bojan came on in a second half as Milan began to dominate, though it was of course too late. Goicoechea made a couple of excellent saves. Marquinhos was sent off for handball and Goicoechea was lucky not to join him when the ref adjudged him to bring down Pazzini and awarded a penalty. Goicoechea made a brilliant point blank save to deny Pazzini but Roma reject Bojan scored on the rebound.

Roma's pressing was superb. The completely overwhelmed Milan in midfield, Ambrosini and Montolivo were chasing shadows. The frenzied pace Roma play at won't be possible to maintain all season or when they play in Europe. While it's great to watch when it clicks sometimes they need to slow down.

As we speak Galliani is either in or headed to Brazil to sell off that no good bastard Pato, who can Quack Off, and Robinho who all Milan fans will wish a fond farewell. The plan is to use the money to sign Balotelli as Milan need a better partner for El Shaarawy. Pazzini and Bojan aren't good enough. Niang (Balotelli II) is powerfully built for his age and has great pace but of course he's green as grass and not ready. Centrebacks are a far more pressing concern. Yepes selection is puzzling given Zapata is available even though he switches off just like Mexes. Milan will also cash in on Abate probably at the end of the season. He's one of the best full backs in the World but De Sciglio is a staggering prospect. He may not have had the best of games today but was awesome against Juventus. At this stage of this career he's inconsistent but has everything you could possibly ask for in a fullback, he's quick, his tackling is superb and there are shades of Maicon in his crossing. The only area technically he needs to work on his positioning. Also Milan need to enter the NextGen series. They've finally got some brilliant prospects and would have a good shot of winning the whole tournament.

Attendance : 52,000
Red Card : Marquinhos 78 (Roma)
Assists : Pjanic (ck), Totti, De Rossi, Balzaretti, Pazzini (won pen), n/a


21 December 2012

PECSARA 2 (Celik 23, Togni 94)
CATANIA 1 (Barrientos 36)

Celik gave Pescara the lead with a grasscutter from the edge of the box. Barrientos whacked in the equaliser from the edge of the box. Togni curled home a stunning free kick in the dying seconds to take all three points and sent Pescara out of the relegation zone for what I believe was the first time this season.

Attendance : 10,246
Assists : Weiss, Izco, Nielsen (won fk)


CAGLIARI 1 (Pinilla 16 Pen)
JUVENTUS 3 (Matri 75, Matri 92, Vucinic 95)

This match was a terrible advert for Italian football with referee Damato, his assistants and cheating midget Giovinco the main culprits. Sau dived to win the opening penalty. Juve should have won one when Astori was all over Quagliarella in the box. Giovinco then dived when Astori breathed on him to earn the defender a second, game changing yellow. He followed that up with another dive in the box but Vidal sent the penalty into outer space. Matri came off the bench to tap in a rebound against his former club after Agazzi parried a Vucinic shot. Thiago Ribeiro intercepted a pass into the Cagliari penalty area and as he turned to clear smashed the ball against Vidal and the rebound fell to Matri, 1-2. Vucinic tapped in a cheat Giovinco's centre to rub salt into the wounds.

It's ironic that as soon as Conte returns Juve return to creating and missing chance after chance before eventually wearing down the opposition. Something we haven't see a lot of while he was banned. Fully deserved win of course but poor sportsmanship and poor officiating.

Attendance : 8,500
Red Card : Astori 65 (Cagliari)
Assists : Sau (won pen), n/a, n/a, Giovinco