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Roma slip up in the Derby -Serie A Midweek roundup
Posted - 21st March 2008
None of the big guns in Serie A were firing well last night, but the results were more disastrous for AS Roma and Milan than for any of the others. Roma, playing its derby against Lazio, missed a golden opportunity to reduce the gap between themselves and Serie A leaders Inter ahead of Inter's crunch game with Juventus. The difference going into last nights games was just six points, and Inter drew, surprisingly, with Genoa (1-1), but Roma failed to capitalise on their superiority against Lazio, and ended up losing the derby in extra time (3-2) and in all likelihood their best chance to come back to win the scudetto.
In other matches, Fiorentina lost 2-0 to Napoli, but were saved difficulties in the league table thanks to an appaling defeat for troubled AC Milan. Milan have staged a comeback since Christmas, and still hope to secure the fourth-place position for which they're chasing Fiorentina. They have little hope, though, based on last night's disastrous defeat against Sampdoria (0-2), and indeed face tough competition to even stay in the UEFA cup qualifying 5th and 6th place positions.
Juventus, meanwhile, held steady with an unimpressive draw against Tuscan minnows Empoli (Juventus beat the team comfortably 3-0 in their first meeting of the season back in October).
The Genoa Inter game did little to dispel the notion that this Inter team, while plagued with different internal conflicts, will win the scudetto once more this year. That Roberto Mancini's team is underachieving seems evident. Genoa, despite the fact that they have the leading goal-scorer in the championship, Marco Boriello, have had a string of defeats lately, and yet they managed to come back into the game and draw with Inter. Things weren't helped when Pele was sent off towards the end of the first half for his second booking. Noticeable was the fact that Zlatan Ibrahimovic played the full ninety-minutes, after his temper tantrum with Mancini at the weekend. He put in hard work, but hardly shone.
The Roman derby was always going to be a strange occasion, harking back to the tragic death of Lazio fan Gabriele Sandri, who died at the start of November having been shot by a police officer intervening in an apparent roadside clash between fans outside a service station in Arezzo. Sandri's death united fans of both clubs, and before last night's derby Francesco Totti paid homage to the Lazio fan. It meant, perhaps, that both teams were slightly less fired up about the traditional derby, but if this were the case someone forgot to tell Lazio midfielder Valon Behrami who knocked in a winning shot in the last minutes of the game. Behrami had been at fault for the first goal, when his clearance hit Roma player Taddei in the face and rebounded into the Lazio goal. He made up for it with the winning 2-3 strike (a mirror image of the pre-christmas derby when Roma took the honours 3-2). Roma hadn't lost a match since the 17th of February, and have faced down Fiorentina, Napoli, Milan and drew with Inter. The momentum pundits have identified is now at question.
Fiorentina couldn't have picked a better time to get beaten by Napoli. Their 2-0 defeat in the San Paolo stadium can be chalked up to experience - and the fact that the team has played a huge amount of matches of late, thanks to their continuing success in the UEFA cup. Sure, a victory would have helped put their lead over Milan out of discussion, but thanks to Milan's mishaps the defeat was far from disastrous for Prandelli's squad.
The biggest losers of the night, though, were AC Milan, who after a thrilling return to form on Saturday last, against Roma, returned to the doldrums to be defeated 2-0 by Sampdoria. All credit due to Sampdoria, who are having a late season rally to try to win a UEFA cup position, but it was Carlo Ancelotti's team that lost the game. Milan had been hopeful, with both Kaka and Seedorf returned to the team - but Kaka's return was premature, as he left the pitch almost as soon as the game had started. His substitute, the youthful Paloschi was one of the few Milan players who gave Ancelotti anything to smile about. Seedorf, on whom so much rested played but was found wanting. The Milan defence was in bits, and after a 1-2 defeat they will need to start worrying about qualifying for the UEFA cup, let alone finishing in a Champions League qualifying position.
At the bottom of the table Cagliari continue their miraculous resurgence, championed by ex-Rimini player Jeda, and star of the moment (and possible Polish international) Roberto Acquafresca. The team who are last in the league table have chalked up impressive wins over the last couple of matches, and look set to haul themselves out of the relegation zone, causing no small amount of worry for teams like Empoli, Livorno, Catania, and Reggina.
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