| Siena | 0-0 | Fiorentina |
| In a heated Tuscan derby on Tuesday, Siena and Fiorentina could only register a goalless draw at the Artemio Franchi, but did manage to record 10 yellow cards. Giuseppe Sannino's side was arguably the more deserving team of the three points, but the lack of clinical finishing in front of goal inevitably took away the opportunity to end the dreadful bout of recent form. Siena hitman Emanuele Calaio was the primary outlet during the 90 minutes, but also the guilty party, as he proceeded to miss several chances, including two headers, one of which rattled the crossbar. The game then became an end-to-end contest, as Stevan Jovetic's volley was parried away by Zeljko Brkic, while Valon Behrami and Alessandro Gamberini also had opportunities to break La Viola's duck. The Bianconeri soon hit back, but Gaetano D'Agostino's free kick impressively forced Artur Boruc into action, while Jovetic could only balloon his shot over the crossbar from 20 yards deep in injury time. The result keeps both sides of Tuscany stuck in the lower reaches of Serie A, as Fiorentina has now won only one of its past six in the league under Delio Rossi, while Siena has won only one of its seven matches. |
| Cagliari | 0-2 | AC Milan |
| Match Report |
| The Rossoneri go into the winter break on a high after a two-goal victory against the islanders moved them ahead of Juventus at the league summit, thanks to an own goal from Francesco Pisano and a Zlatan Ibrahimovic strike. |
| Udinese | 0-0 | Juventus |
| Match Report |
| Claudio Marchisio went close for the visitors during the first half but, for the most part, both sides struggled horribly to create chances during a terribly anti-climactic clash, which sees the Old Lady forced to end 2011 in second place. |
| Parma | 3-3 | Catania |
| Arguably the game of the round saw Parma and Catania play out an enthralling goal fest at the Tardini, as a 3-3 draw was the final outcome on Wednesday. The fixture sprang into life after just five minutes, as Daniele Galloppa's cross met Francesco Modesto, who beat the offside trap to head Franco Colomba's men into the lead. However, Sergio Almiron made it 1-1 on 21 minutes after tapping the ball into the back of the net from close range, but two minutes later Parma restored its advantage - this time from the wizardry of the returning Sebastian Giovinco, who lead a breakaway and allowed Jonathan Biabiany to ping the ball into the top corner. The Ducali proceeded to add a third of genuine quality soon after, as Sergio Floccari finished Giovinco's cross with great aplomb to seemingly put Parma in the driving seat against Catania. However, Vincenzo Montella's halftime team talk appeared to do the trick, as within 21 minutes of the second half initiating a naive piece of defending from Fabiano Santacroce bring down Alejandro Gomez, thus paving the way for Francesco Lodi to net from the penalty spot and score in second successive game. And the comeback was well and truly finished with just two minutes of normal time remaining, as substitute Andrea Catellani powered a right-footed shot past Antonio Mirante and hand his side a well deserved point. Parma falls to 13th following the result, but Catania moves up to ninth for the winter break. |
| Novara | 2-2 | Palermo |
| An equally exciting game in Piedmont saw Novara bravely come back from behind to consign Palermo to a disappointing 2-2 draw in Bortolo Mutti's first game back in Sicily. The opener came on 20 minutes in the favor of the Rosanero, as Josip Ilicic's cross from the right side was unfortunately diverted in by Carlalberto Ludi, who proceeded to net into his own goal. However, just two minutes before halftime, Ilicic turned from hero into villain, after reacting badly to a Massimo Paci challenge, and in turn being shown a straight red card. Despite the sending off, Novara surprisingly went further behind, and it seemed as if the points were sealed on 74 minutes, thanks to a great goal from Nicolas Bertolo, who beat two defenders before slamming the ball past Samir Ujkani. But a valiant display from Atilio Tesser's men was in the offing as they managed to rescue a share of the spoils. Andrea Mazzarani's lovely long-range shot past Francesco Benussi, albeit with a deflection from Matias Silvestre, began the shift in momentum. The draw was then confirmed with six minutes of play left as Michel Morganella's ball across the face of goal found star performer Marco Rigoni, who netted his sixth goal of the season with a vicious strike. Palermo drops to ninth in the standings, while Novara stays put in 19th. |
| Lazio | 0-0 | Chievo |
| Lazio's Serie A aspirations took a blow on Wednesday evening, after a uninspiring meeting with Chievo meant a 0-0 draw was the team's eventual fate. Despite overriding possession against the Flying Donkey's, the home side failed to hit the target in any of seven strikes at its opponent's goal. However, the club had to thank goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri, who put in a point-saving shift between the sticks after he successfully endured frequent goalmouth pressure from Chievo, which managed to produce four attempts at goal. Indeed it was the visiting side which had the best chance of the game through defender Cesar just two minutes in, but his attempt crashed off the woodwork, as the result sees Lazio stay fourth, while Chievo climbs to 12th in Serie A. |
| Inter | 4-1 | Lecce |
| Match Report | Player Ratings |
| The visiting side took an early lead but from there on the home team dominated the game and completed a fantastic comeback, with a flurry of second half goals from Giampaolo Pazzini, Diego Milito, Esteban Cambiasso and Ricky Alvarez to cancel out Luis Muriel's opener. |
| Atalanta | 4-1 | Cesena |
| A fine performance from former Sampdoria forward Guido Marilungo inspired Atalanta to a 4-1 mauling against Cesena on Wednesday, as coach Stefano Colantuono will be delighted his decision to drop Maxi Moralez was vindicated. However, it was the visiting side which took the lead. Just 12 minutes in, Antonio Candreva netted past Andrea Consigli with little space to maneuver.But soon after, Atalanta gathered the motivation to steamroll its Emila-Romagna counterpart, as Guillermo Rodriguez felled Marilungo from behind, allowing German Denis to score yet again from the penalty spot. He now tops the scoring charts with 12 for the campaign. Marilungo then became the scorer, rather than the provider, after beating the Cesena defense. If the victory was not already sealed, then a fourth allayed any fears of a Seahorses comeback, as fullback Peluso bagged an individual goal of the highest quality, taking on two Cesena defenders before powering the ball home. Atalanta rises to 11th place, on 22 points following the triumph, but Cesena remains stuck in 18th for the winter break. |
| Napoli | 6-1 | Genoa |
| Match Report |
| Four goals in the opening 45 minutes set the Partenopei on their way to victory for a scintillating performance against their Ligurian opponent, as a Cavani brace, plus strikes from Gargano, Hamsik and Zuniga cap a storming return to form. |
| Bologna | 0-2 | Roma |
The second part of the season looks bright for Roma after securing a second consecutive victory, thanks to a comfortable 2-0 win over Bologna on Wednesday. Luis Enrique's men started on the front foot, as Rodrigo Taddei's 17th minute strike from the edge of the box flew past Jean-Francois Gillet to give his side the initiative early on. And with just five minutes of first half action left, Pablo Osvaldo collected Erik Lamela's incisive pass, before coolly slotting the ball past the Belgian to seal the three points for the Giallorossi. However, there was some late commotion involving Stefano Pioli's outfit, as Daniele Portanova was given his marching orders on 77 minutes, following his decision to barrack the referee for Diego Perez's yellow card moments earlier. Despite the Rossoblu's impressive start to life under Pioli, they remain 17th in the table and have now won only one of their past seven league games. Roma, meanwhile, finds itself in seventh place, 10 points behind leader Milan.- http://sports.yahoo.com |
0 comments:
Post a Comment