After a two week break for the last International break of the year, Serie A returned at the weekend and it’s the same old story. The top two in Juventus and Roma won away at Lazio and Atalanta respectively. Napoli threw away a 2-0 lead and a 3-2 lead by dropping two points in a six goal thriller at home to Cagliari. The big game of the weekend was the Milan derby which was the return to the bench for Inter new coach Roberto Mancini, the game ended in a stalemate in a 1-1 draw.
Saturday 22nd November
The first game in the weekend action was in Bergamo where Roma travelled to Atalanta. Atalanta took an early lead in the opening minute where Cristian Raimondi danced past Ashley Cole to cross in for Maxi Moralez to sweep home from close range in off the crossbar. Roma hit back with two first half goals from Adem Ljajic and Radja Nainggolan. Richmond Boayke then got himself sent off in added time for dissent.
The Saturday night game had the leaders Juventus travelling to the capital to take on the Blue half of Lazio. Juventus ran out comfortable winners in a routine winners 3-0, Paul Pogba opened the scoring, Argentine striker Carlos Tevez added the second. Paul Pogba netted his second of the game and the Old Lady third.
Sunday 23 November
The lunch time kick off on Sunday had Sassuolo travelling to Torino. Juan Sanchez Mino missed a golden chance from the penalty spot but his weak penalty was saved by Andrea Consigli. In a poor game Sassuolo took the spoils late in the game where Antonio Floro Flores got in front of the Torino defence and powerfully headed home from a corner.
Napoli entertained Cagliari at a packed Stadio San Paolo due to low ticketing prices. Napoli raced into a 2-0 goal lead thanks to goals from Gonzalo Higuain and a long range rocket from Swiss Midfielder Gokhan Inler. But Cagliari hit back with two goals, Victor Ibabro pulled one back just before half time. Then just after half time Diego Farias headed home from close range to net the Cagliari equaliser. Napoli added a third when a cross found Dutch midfielder Jonathan De Guzman who headed past the Cagliari keeper. But again Cagliari pegged Napoli back with the equaliser as Farias added a second from close range.
Parma season has gone from bad to worse and now sit rock bottom of Serie A. A home defeat to Empoli have circled the rumours of Roberto Donadoni job. Goals for Empoli came from Matias Vecino and Francesco Tavano gave the away side the three points.
Udinese entertained Chievo at home and it turned out to be a historic day for striker Antonio Di Natale. Di Natale opened the scoring with his 200th Serie A goal in his 400th Serie A game, not a bad record of 1 in 2. But Chievo equalised halfway through the second half thanks to a cracking strike from distance from Ivan Radovanovic.
Cesena and Sampdoria played out a 1-1 draw, Cesena opened the scoring in the second half thanks to former Sampdoria defender Stefano Lucchini scrambled home from close range. But Sampdoria got the equaliser when Constantin Nica diverted a cross into his own net.
Fiorentina got a crucial win away in Verona at Hellas Verona, Fiorentina opened the scoring thanks to a goal from captain Gonzalo Rodriguez. Hellas Verona equalised thanks to some bravery from Nico Lopez who got In front of his defender and Neto to prod the ball home into an empty net. Fiorentina got the winner in the second half when Juan Cuadrado chested past the Hellas Verona keeper from close range.
The Sunday night game was the Milan Derby “Derby Della Madonnina”, this was Roberto Mancini first game in charge in his second spell at the club. The derby ended in a draw on which was probably the fair result. AC Milan opened the scoring with a fantastic goal from Jeremy Menez who elegantly volleyed past Samir Handanovic, Inter got the equaliser in the second half from an unlikely source in Joel Obi who hit a low drive into the bottom corner from just outside of the area.
Monday 24th November
The final game of the week 12 action was Palermo travelling to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris to take on Genoa. Palermo opened the scoring early on in the game thanks to a cracking goal from Argentine striker Paulo Dybala who cut in from the right hand side and curled in a lovely effort into the far corner past the outstretched hands of the Genoa goalkeeper. But Genoa equalised thanks to a strike from Andrea Bertolacci who struck a drive from outside of the area into the bottom corner.
ScotM
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