It was one of those weekends in Serie A when the form book went out the window and nothing seemed to follow expectation (apart from the Chievo-Sampdoria game!). With seven rounds of games remaining, the same teams occupy the top five spots as did last week, but Inter and Napoli have traded places. Oh, and two coaches have been axed following this set of surprising results at such a crucial stage of the season.
AC Milan raised their game for the derby, and completed the double over Inter this season via a comprehensive 3-0 win. Alexandre Pato was the main thorn in Inter’s side, but Inter’s defence – Cristian Chivu in particular – never looked up to the task of coping with Milan's attacking players.
Inter’s loss was Napoli’s gain, and they moved into second by beating Lazio 4-3 in what has been described as the game of the season. The second and third best defences in Italy surprised everybody by partaking in a goal-fest at the Stadio San Paolo, though Lazio can consider themselves unlucky not to have taken at least a point home to Rome (see the goal of the week on the football blog page for further details). Edinson Cavani was the star of the show, and his hat-trick means that he has now scored more goals in one season than any other player in Napoli’s history. He is also neck-and-neck with Udinese's Antonio Di Natale at the top of the Serie A goalscoring table on 25 goals.
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| Cavani lobs fellow Uruguayan Muslera to complete his hat-trick |
Lecce moved out of the relegation zone by producing a shock 2-0 win over an uninspred Udinese. Udinese remain in fifth, but they have lost their unbeaten record for 2011 in unexpected fashion. Palermo coach Serse Cosmi has been given his marching orders after just 36 days in the job. Cosmi’s side lost 4-0 to Sicilian rivals Catania, and his predecessor Delio Rossi been reinstated. The very public war of words which occurred between Rossi and club president Maurizio Zamparini before Rossi’s dismissal makes this a strange appointment. How long will it last I wonder? For the record, Cosmi lost three of his four games as Palermo coach. His only win was against league leaders AC Milan two weeks ago.
Pasquale Marino was the other managerial casualty of the weekend after his side Parma were beaten 2-1 at home by bottom side Bari. This result left Parma just two points above the relegation zone, and it was almost certainly too little too late for Bari.
The erratic Juventus beat the erratic Roma 2-0 in the capital thanks to second-half goals from Miloš Krasić and Alessandro Matri. This brings Juve to within two points of Roma in seventh as they hope for Champions League football next season. Cagliari recovered from two defeats in a row by beating Genoa 1-0 in what was a rare away win for the Sardinians. Fiorentina almost secured what would have been a rare away win at Cesena, but a late
Fabio Caserta equaliser tied the game at 2-2. Despite taking a point from the game, Cesena have fallen into the relegation zone.
Sampdoria ended a losing run by securing a point at Chievo. If you managed to check the odds before this game (most bookmakers weren’t even offering any), you won’t be shocked to learn that it turned out to be a boring 0-0 draw. And finally, in another game where the odds just didn’t look right until after the event, Brescia beat Bologna 3-1 on Saturday. Brescia remain second from bottom, but they are now only two points from escaping the relegation zone.
Til next time…
Serie A: week 31 results
Catania 4-0 Palermo
Cesena 2-2 Fiorentina
Chievo 0-0 Sampdoria
Genoa 0-1 Cagliari
Lecce 2-0 Udinese
Napoli 4-3 Lazio
Parma 1-2 Bari
Roma 0-2 Juventus
AC Milan 3-0 Inter
Brescia 3-1 Bologna
