By the time they kick off at the San Siro this evening, the big game of the weekend will no longer be a battle between first and second in Serie A. Inter edged into second place in the table when they visited Sampdoria last night and won 2-0 thanks to a superb free kick from Wesley Sneijder and a late insurance goal from Samuel Eto’o. This win placed Inter two points behind AC Milan and one point ahead of Napoli, though they have played one game more than their title rivals.
The eye-catching result of the weekend was undoubtedly Udinese’s 7-0 thrashing of Palermo. Alexis Sanchez scored four for the Bianconeri, while Antonio Di Natale climbed to the top of the Serie A goalscoring charts once again thanks to his hat-trick. Di Natale has now scored 21 Serie A goals this season.
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| Rossi: under pressure at Palermo |
Tension between Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini and coach Delio Rossi had bubbled over into the public domain in recent weeks, and after this result Zamparini has been quoted as saying that Rossi has a 1% chance of keeping his job. Rossi himself has vowed to stay, but it seems unlikely that he will still be in charge by the time Palermo visit his old club Lazio next Sunday.
Marco Di Vaio scored twice at Juventus on Saturday evening to bring his tally for the season to 16 and to secure a surprise 2-0 win for Bologna. This was a further blow to Juve’s Champions League ambitions for next season, and Luigi Del Neri may become another coach with an uncertain future if his results don't improve. Meanwhile Bologna climb to the top half of the table on the back of this win.
Lazio’s grip on fourth place was weakened when they lost 1-0 at Cagliari on Sunday. An almost comical own goal from Andre Dias ended a five-game unbeaten run for the Biancoceleste, who are now just a single point ahead of Udinese in the table.
Vincenzo Montella’s home debut as Roma coach looked to be going perfectly as they took a 2-0 lead into the half-time break. For the second time in three games however, the Giallorossi threw away a comfortable lead and Amauri’s two late goals rescued a point for Parma.
A 90th minute Luis Jimenez penalty earned three valuable points for Cesena as they battle to avoid the drop. This 1-0 win over Chievo was their first since they beat Brescia on January 6th. Brescia themselves, like Roma, threw away a two-goal lead and had to settle for a 2-2 draw with fellow relegation candidates Lecce.
Elsewhere, Catania reversed an early lead to beat Genoa 2-1 at the Stadio Massimino, while Bari also came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw and deny Fiorentina their second away win of the season.
The full-time result from the San Siro will be posted below after the game, alongside the other results from series 27. We will return on Friday as usual with previews for next weekend’s games. Til then…
Serie A: week 27 results
AC Milan 3-0 Napoli
Bari 1-1 Fiorentina
Brescia 2-2 Lecce
Cagliari 1-0 Lazio
Catania 2-1 Genoa
Cesena 1-0 Chievo
Palermo 0-7 Udinese
Roma 2-2 Parma
Sampdoria 0-2 Inter Milan
Juventus 0-2 Bologna
