With Inter Milan involved in the Club World Championship, much of the focus moved away from under pressure manager Rafa Benitez and onto the rest of the league and in particular, their cross town rivals AC Milan.
Saturday saw three games from Serie A, featuring sides competing at both the top and bottom ends of the table. The stand out game of the day saw Napoli travel to underachieving Genoa. In a tight game, Slovakian midfielder Marek Hamšík grabbed the only goal of the game on 25 minutes, to draw the Neapolitan side level on points with second placed Lazio.
Another side enjoying a rich vein of form in Serie A over recent weeks have been Palermo. Saturday saw the Eagles come from behind to win at home against Parma, who continue to be haunted by the spectre of relegation. Cristiano Lucarelli gave the visitors the lead after just seven minutes.
Palermo had to wait until six minutes into the second half for an equaliser with Chilean striker Mauricio Pinilla levelling the scores. The home side then took the lead through veteran Fabrizio Miccoli just after the hour mark before an own goal from Parma defender Christian Zaccardo sealed a 3 – 1 win.
Elsewhere, surprise strugglers Udinese and Fiorentina faced off at the Stadio Friuli in what was a must win for both sides. Mario Santana gave the Viola the lead after 31 minutes as the away side looked set for a priceless win on the road. Udinese though did eventually find an equaliser, just after the hour mark when Columbian defender Pablo Armero levelled the scores.
The stage was then set for a grand finale and it was Udinese’s talismanic striker Antonio Di Natale that duly supplied the starring role with the game’s winner, ten minutes from time, to move Udinese up to 9th, and level on points with Sampdoria.
And that was all thanks to a surprise win for lowly Brescia at home against Sampdoria. The game marked Mario Beretta’s first in charge of Brescia and a goal from Nicolas Cordova after just 13 minutes proved enough against a goal shy Sampdoria, who continue to suffer in the absence of the seemingly outcast Antonio Cassano.
The result saw Brescia remain outside of the bottom three but they remain level on points with Lecce who won for the first time since October, at home to mid table Chievo.
Goals from Edward Ofere on 16 minutes and a second from Ignacio Piatti on the stroke of half time put the home side in control. But the Flying Donkeys fought back with Mariano Bogliacino reducing the arrears for the visitors nine minutes into the second half. However, any hope of a comeback was seemingly extinguished with just eleven minutes remaining, as Piatti scored once again for Lecce. A stoppage time goal from substitute Davide Mandelli proved merely a consolation for Chievo, with Lecce moving three points clear of Cesena and five clear of Bari.
That gap was aided by Roma, who claimed a narrow 1-0 victory against the bottom side Bari. In truth it could have been more, with Bari goal keeper Jean Francois Gillet saving a penalty from Francesco Totti after just twenty minutes. Ultimately, it mattered little,with Brazilian defender Juan scoring what proved to be the winner, just ten minutes later, as Roma remained level with Palermo on 26 points and sixth in the table.
Meanwhile Cagliari cruised to a 3-0 victory against a sorry Catania side who ended the game with nine men after red cards for Martinho and Japanese midfielder Takayuki Morimoto. Brazilian Nene grabbed an impressive hat trick for the home side, scoring twice in the opening half hour and a third just after the 70 minute mark. Cagliari are up to 11th whilst Catania dropped to 15th.
Another side in cruise control were current leaders AC Milan, who faced off against Bologna at the San Siro. Things got off to a good start when Kevin Prince Boateng scored his second goal in the space of a week after just eight minutes, to set Milan on their way.
And it was 2-0 just before the half hour mark, when Robinho finished well to put the Rossoneri in control. The scoring was then completed when Zlatan Ibrahimovic added a third on the hour mark, which saw Milan move six points clear ahead of the evening match between Juventus and Lazio.
In truth, prior to this season’s exploits, few would have expected Lazio to have taken any points away from Juventus in Turin. And when defender Giorgio Chiellini put Juve in front with just two minutes gone, the signs were not good. But Lazio rallied quickly and were soon level through Mauro Zarate. And that was how the game stayed until deep into stoppage time.
With Lazio looking set to hold on to second place in the league, Juventus were handed all three points thanks to a fortunate slice of invention and luck, as Milos Krasić struck a speculative cross shot which was diverted into the net off of Lazio’s otherwise peerless goalkeeper Fernando Muslera. The result saw Juve move second, level on points not only with Lazio but also Napoli.
So while it’s tight for second place, AC Milan are now six points clear at the top of the table. Meanwhile, Carlo Ancelotti is suffering a spell of inconsistency at Chelsea that may seem familiar to those fans of the Rossoneri in recent years. Could Allegri’s AC be about to deliver their first scudetto since 2004?