With only eight rounds of games remaining, the Serie A title race just got a lot more interesting in a weekend which yielded wins for each of the top five teams with the exception of league leaders AC Milan.
Lazio kicked off the weekend on Saturday with a solid 1-0 victory over Cesena which temporarily lifted the Romans back into the top four. Udinese reclaimed fourth place on Sunday afternoon however by beating Catania 2-0 at home thanks to a first-half goal from Gökhan Inler and a second-half penalty which was won by Alexis Sánchez and converted by the league’s top scorer Antonio Di Natale.
Palermo produced the shock result of the weekend when they ended a run of five straight defeats by beating table-toppers AC Milan on Saturday evening. Dorin Goian’s 10th minute goal was enough to earn three points for the Sicilians in what was Serse Cosmi’s first win as Palermo coach.
Inter took full advantage of this slip-up by their city rivals on Sunday afternoon when they scored a 1-0 home win over struggling Lecce. Though Giampaolo Pazzini looked to have controlled the ball with his hand before slotting home his second-half goal, it was allowed to stand and eventually decided the game. Inter are now just two points behind Milan and this weekend’s results have increased the significance of the Milan derby, which is the next fixture scheduled for the league’s top two.
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| Pazzini: lending a hand to Inter's title challenge |
Napoli drew within three points of the top of Serie A when they beat Cagliari 2-1 in the Sunday evening game. Their title challenge looked to be in serious doubt just three weeks ago when they were soundly beaten by AC Milan, but two second-half goals from Edinson Cavani were enough to defeat Cagliari and launch Napoli right back into contention for the Scudetto.
The bottom side in Serie A effectively waved goodbye to the top division as they lost 2-1 to Chievo in front of a healthy home support. Chievo had gone six games without a win, yet Bari failed to earn any points from this game and their immediate future now surely lies in Serie B.
Elsewhere, Francesco Totti scored twice for his second game in a row to earn a share of the spoils for Roma at Fiorentina. Genoa came from behind to earn a point at Bologna, while their city rivals Sampdoria lost 1-0 at home to Parma. And finally, goals from Miloš Krasić and Alessandro Del Piero earned Juventus their first win in over a month, over second-from-bottom club Brescia. You can watch Del Piero's excellent winner, complete with appropriately excited commentary, on the football blog page.
There will be no Serie A action next week, due to international fixtures. Join the Del’s Football Tips Facebook Page to be notified of any match previews/tips in the meantime.
Til then…
Serie A – week 30 results
Fiorentina 2-2 Roma
Bari 1-2 Chievo
Bologna 1-1 Genoa
Inter 1-0 Lecce
Juventus 2-1 Brescia
Sampdoria 0-1 Parma
Udinese 2-0 Catania
Napoli 2-1 Cagliari
Lazio 1-0 Cesena
Palermo 1-0 AC Milan
