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Milan's Paloschi steals the show - The weekly round-up from Serie A

Posted - 11th February 2008

No particularly great games this weekend, though many were crucially important. The hero of the weekend was, without a shadow of a doubt, AC Milan's Alberto Paloschi, who unblocked a difficult game for Berlusconi's team against an agressive Siena. Paloschi, who plays for Milan's youth team, was called up by Carlo Ancelotti in extremis to help reinforce Milan's weakened attack force (Kaka and Pato are both injured, while Inzaghi and Ronaldo are yet to find form after returning from injuries). The 18 year old scooped all the headlines by scoring just fifteen seconds after making his Serie-A debut - a record, and an important goal for Milan who, by hook or crook, are making what's almost becoming a trademark comeback. Paloschi made his debut playing with the main Milan squad during the Coppa Italia back in December, when he scored a goal in both away and return legs of the round against Sicilian team Catania. A stupefied Siena Coach, Mario Beretta, remarked to the press afterwards that he had said to one of his staff as Paloschi entered the pitch, 'Wait till you see, this one will score'.

The victory for Milan brings them to within two points of Fiorentina, with a game in hand, for the vital fourth place following the dissapointing draw for Cesare Prandelli's team against Atalanta on Saturday night, with all the momentum in favour of Ancelotti's Milan.

Inter remain table leaders after a relatively straight-forward away victory against Catania. Controversy will continue, though, as Inter's first goal scored by Argentinean midfielder Esteban Cambiasso (ex-Real Madrid) came from an off-side position. There can be little doubt that Inter would have won the match in any case - confirmed by their second goal, scored by Honduran striker David Suazo (ex-Cagliari), but yet another dubious refereeing decision in favour of the league leaders will do nothing to banish rumours of favouritism.

AS Roma were back on form, at least in terms of winning an important game. They took to the field on Saturday night, at home against Reggina. A victory should have been a certainty, given that Reggina are second from last in the table, but Spalletti's team still show worrying signs of complacency. They started well, and went ahead after Christian Panucci headed home a great cross from Francesco Totti. As so often happens with Roma, though, they sat back and allowed Reggina to bring the game to them. In the opening minutes of the second half they were more than a little lucky not to suffer an equaliser from the boot of Edgar Barreto. That's not to say that 'la magica' doesn't have bucket loads of talent, as shown when French attacker Ludovic Giuly weaved his way through the Reggina defence to strike a blistering shot, saved by goalkeeper Campagnolo but slotted in on the rebound by Amantino Mancini. But the space allowed to Reggina, given to another team would have spelt disaster. Roma rest in second place in the table, with 48 points.

Juventus made hard work of their 2-1 away victory over Udinese. It was never going to be a walk-over, as Udinese have one of the best attacks in Serie A at the moment, in the form of Antonio Di Natale and Fabio Quagliarella. The first half showed up weaknesses left, right, and center in the Juventus defence, and they were lucky to be only 1-0 down going into half-time. Udinese's goal came from a shot by Quagliarella, blocked by Buffon but then tapped in by a waiting Andrea Dossena. Buffon, who returns from an injury, admitted that he was under-form, but still managed to make some brilliant saves (in particular against Di Natale) to keep Juve in the game. After half-time Juventus re-entered with more determination, and it was that stalwart Mario Camoranesi (also returning from injury) who scored the equaliser - heading home a corner from Alessandro Del Piero. Udinese created chances in both the first and second half, but it was ex-Udinese striker Vincenzo Iaquinta who won the game for Juventus, almost immediately after coming on to replace a lacklustre David Trezeguet. The goal was set up by Pavel Nedved, and Iaquinta made no mistake putting it home. An important, if laboured, victory for Juventus who have earned a meagre 6 points from the last four games. They remain in third place, with 44 points, and will be looking to ensure they stay, at least, there for a champions league place.

Another big clash of the weekend was between Napoli and Sampdoria. Both have strong teams that, objectively, are under-performing. Sampdoria, with strikers like Belucci and Cassano should be winning more games, while Napoli which started the season so well, has entered a disastrous period marked by in-fighting between coach Reja and club owner Aurelio di Laurentiis. That the goals scored were by Delvecchio e Franceschini rather than Samp's star strikers Cassano or Belucci describes the stalemate and pressure of the game eloquently. The defeat deepens the sense of crisis at Napoli, while the victory will give Sampdoria some confidence going into next weekend's always-important derby with Genoa.

In other games, Empoli won an important three points by beating Lazio 1-0. Important for Empoli, who are hovering in the relegation zone, and a disaster for Lazio who, it should be remembered qualified for the Champions League this season. The Rome team has a distinctly unimpressive 23 points so far this season. Cagliari still struggle at the bottom of the table, drawing 1-1 against Parma, though they did so with a magnificent goal from Brazilian striker Jeda which bodes well for them. Jeda was one of the stars of last year's Serie B when he played for minnows Rimini and scored 11 goals.