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Inter Milan widen the gap - the weekly round up from Serie A
Posted - 4th February 2008
It was a weekend of lucky breaks, missed opportunities, and at least one shock-defeat. The big news of the weekend was yesterday's surprise defeat of Roma by Tuscan side Siena. More surprising than the actual defeat was the manner in which it was inflicted - with Siena scoring three goals to Roma's zero. The talking heads of Italian football yesterday evening were going as far as to compare the defeat to that dreadful whalloping (7-1) Roma recieved at the hands of Manchester United in April last year. The pressure is obviously starting to show on Roma, having played a number of Italian Cup matches alongside Serie A in the last two weeks. It's a particularly serious defeat, though, given that the club had started 2008 well and hopes were high that they could close the gap between them and table-leaders Inter. Inter's victory yesterday saw them pulling 8 points ahead, leaving it all to do for the giallorossi.
Inter Milan's victory over Empoli (another Tuscan club) was the other main talking point of the weekend, given that it was the result of a particularly dubious penalty. The 1-0 victory was hardly the stuff of champions, and Empoli coach Alberto Malesani (former coach of Panathinaikos FC in Greece) was not completely out-of-line when, after the match, he declared "we didn't deserve to lose, we were stronger than Inter, by their own admission". Empoli, to put things in context, is one of the smallest clubs in Serie A, and currently in the relegation zone. The dubious penalty - which inter coach Roberto Mancini admitted should not have been given - comes hot on the heals of a similar incident two weeks ago when Inter beat Parma. The Italian press has been dominated by accusations and rebuttals over the suggestion that referees are favouring Inter in their decisions. Inter fans yesterday were quick to point out that the referee also awarded Empoli a penalty, which they failed to convert, and was particularly harsh in sending off Patrick Viera leaving Inter with ten men for much of the second half.
Perhaps the highest profile game was yesterday evening when Fiorentina played AC Milan at home. Milan, after having a disastrous first leg of the championship, are playing catch up for an all-important fourth-place finish (giving them a place in next season's champions league). Fiorentina who started the season brilliantly -vyying for first place with Roma and Inter - have had their ups and downs over the course of the season thus far, but remain in fourth place. So the match last night was a crucial one for both teams. The first half was a stalemate, with Ancelotti playing Gilardino alone up front. In the second half Ancelotti took the decision to sub Seedorf with current Milan posterkid Pato - a decision which paid dividends ten minutes later with a great goal to break the deadlock. Kaka laid on a ball for his brazilian team-mate, who slammed it home with his left-foot. It was the match decider, and Milan picked up a well-earned three points. They're now just four points behind Fiorentina but have a match in hand. There's every reason to think that Milan will finish the season well, given that the teams above them, with the exception of Inter, have all had dissapointing starts to the new year. The bad news, though, came in the closing minutes of the match when Pato suffered a twisted ankle during a clash with a Fiorentina defender. He was stretchered off, and it looks as if the injury is a significant one that will put him out of action for a number of games.
Amongst the other games, Juventus missed a good opportunity to close the gap with Roma and Inter, by drawing with Cagliari 1-1 (goals by Bianco and Nedved). Napoli managed a convincing 3-1 win against Udinese - a victory which will possibly smooth tensions between coach Edoardo Reja and club-owner Aurelio De Laurentiis after a string of recent dissapointments. Genoa beat Italian Cup semi-finalists Catania 2-1, with a goal by ex-Milan striker Marco Borriello. Borriello is in fine form, having scored 12 goals for Genoa so far this season - a fact that has earned him a place in Roberto Donadoni's Italian squad for an upcoming friendly against Portugal.
Miss of the week goes to Sampdoria's Antonio Cassano, who, completely unmarked, was passed the perfect opportunity by team-mate Claudio Bellucci in front of Lazio's goal but booted it skyward. Perhaps it was the emotion of returning to Rome's Olympic Stadium? Cassano made up for it with a well taken goal later, but it was too-litte, too-late to save Sampdoria from a 2-1 defeat to Lazio.
Tables standings after this weekend's games are as follows:Top Goal Scorers:
- Inter Milan - 53 pts
- AS Roma - 45 pts
- Juventus - 42 pts
- Fiorentina - 37 pts
- AC Milan - 33 pts *
- Udinese - 33 pts
- Atalanta - 29 pts
- Sampdoria - 28 pts
- Palermo - 28 pts
- Genoa - 28 pts
- Napoli - 27 pts
- Catania - 23 pts
- Lazio - 23 pts
- Torino - 21 pts
- Livorno - 21 pts*
- Siena - 20 pts
- Parma - 19 pts
- Reggina - 18 pts
- Empoli - 16 pts
- Cagliari - 14 pts
15 goals D. Trezeguet (Juventus) 14 goals Z. Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan) 13 goals A. Mutu (Fiorentina) 12 goals M. Borriello (Genoa) 10 goals J. Cruz (Inter Milan) 10 goals F. Totti (AS Roma) 9 goals C. Bellucci (Sampdoria) 9 goals A. Del Piero (Juventus) 9 goals F. Tavano (Livorno) 8 goals C. Amauri (Palermo)
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