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Inter and Juventus lose out - the weekly round up

Posted - 25th February 2008

It was a weekend dominated by controversy, thanks to some appaling decisions by the referee during the Reggina vs Juventus game on Saturday night. The game was effectively gifted to low-ranking Reggina, thanks to three denied penalties to Claudio Ranieri's team. The formal protest issued by Juventus on Sunday overshadowed the weekend's other games, though there were plenty of important goals and results elsewhere.

Particularly damning was the replay of an incident where a ball was played in to the Reggina box to a waiting Pavel Nedved, who was effectively slammed to the ground by Valdez who rising - in theory - for the ball wrapped himself around the neck of the Czech midfielder. Referee Dondarini, who has since been suspended for two months, was perfectly placed to see the incident, but is seen in the replay immediately turning towards his linesman for advice. No penalty was given. Commentators have been quick to point out that Dondarini was amongst the referees under investigation for Calciopoli (a sentence against him was overturned on appeal). While no-one has accused the referee of delibarately penalising Juventus, the theory goes that, with the stink of Calciopoli still very much in the air, he may not have been psychologically neutral enough to referee a Juventus game. Question marks are raised then about the choice of Collina, who decides on the designation of referees, to field Dondarini for the game in Reggio Calabria.

It was a defeat that allowed Roma to pull a couple of points away from the Turin team. They have been battling over second-place, but AS ROma now pull four points ahead, which may be enough to keep the spot. They pulled ahead at the expense of Fiorentina, in what was the biggest game of the weekend. The teams were well-matched, and are both in form - despite, or perhaps because of, their midweek triumphs in European competition (Roma beat Real Madrid in the Champions League, while Fiorentina beat Norwegian side Rosenborg in the UEFA cup). Roma, though, gained the upper hand with a goal by C�cero Jo�o de C�zare, better known as Cicinho at the start of the second half. It was a disaster for Fiorentina in more ways than one - first they lost, but equally importantly their star-striker Adrian Mutu had to be carried off after a clash with Roma's goalkeeper Doni. The brazilian keeper fell on the ball, but also on Mutu's knee. It looks like the romanian striker will be out of action for at least a month. Losing this game poses a number of problems for Cesare Prandelli's team. They've slipped from their fourth placed position (and champions league qualification), and have problems with two of their strikers (Cristian Vieri picked up another booking during Sunday's game and is disqualified for the game against Livorno on Wednesday). Prandelli will be hoping that Giampaolo Pazzini is match fit, after problems with his ankle.

The two dominating personalities of the weekend, were, without doubt, Antonio Cassano and Genoa's Marco Borriello. Cassano was, it seemed, his old-self, when playing at home against league-leaders Inter Milan. He dazzled, and joked in equal measure. Just moments after cheekily patting Patrick Viera on the arse, he was slamming home a goal (helpfully placed in his path by an error-prone Marco Matterazzi). Inter were only saved from a rare defeat by a late goal by secondary striker Hernan Crespo. Crespo had a meeting with club officials during the week to clarify his position at the club, after lamenting his lack of game time this season. Inter's draw with Sampdoria, though, opens up the possibility of a comeback for Roma, who face Roberto Mancini's team in a crucial game on Wednesday night.

Marco Borriello continued his fairy-tale season, with three wonderful goals for Genoa in their 5-3 victory against Udinese. Borriello is now equal with David Trezeguet in the top scorers table for Serie A, with 15 goals a piece. His future seems uncertain, though, as his contract is owned by AC Milan (where he struggled to get a first-team appearance), who seem determined to send the Neopolitan abroad to a non-Italian club at the end of the season. Roberto Donadoni, Italian coach, has been keeping a close eye on the player, and he may well figure in the Italian squad's adventures in Austria and Switzerland for Euro2008 now.

Elsewhere, Pipo Inzaghi made a welcome return to goal-scoring, putting AC Milan into the lead against Palermo last night, and allowing them to somersault finally into fourth-place in the table. They've been chasing on the heels of Fiorentina for weeks, but recent poor results and injuries had called into question their ability to pass the Tuscan team> Never one's to be underestimated, Inzaghi and Milan have bought themselves a tiny bit of breathing space.