Serie A was back in action after a week of International friendlies and Euro qualifiers, and it surely had some surprises in store for its fans. This week saw Chievo Verona, who were in 14th position last season, finishing at the top of the pile. A giant killing by Cesena and an annihilation of A.S. Roma were the biggest talking points, as the second week of the Italian Serie A came to a close.
Serie A Week 2 Results:
- Inter 2-1 Udinese
- Cagliari 5-1 Roma
- Cesena 2-0 Milan
- Brescia 3-2 Palermo
- Lazio 3-1 Bologna
- Genoa 1-3 Chievo Verona
- Lecce 1-0 Fiorentina
- Catania 2-1 Parma
- Juventus 3-3 Sampdoria
- Napoli 2-2 Bari
Match of the weekend
Juventus hosted Sampdoria on Sunday in what was easily the match of the weekend in Serie A. Luigi Del Neri’s men, who suffered a humiliating 0-1 away loss to Bari during the opening week, could muster only one point to open this seaosn’s account, as they drew with Sampdoria in an exciting and high tempered 6-goal encounter. Things could have been a lot different for the side from Turin, had they not squandered their lead, not once but twice. Pozzi put the visitors ahead six minutes past the half an hour mark, but Juventus equalized through Marchisio just before the halftime whistle. Pepe gave the Bianconeria a lead for the first time in the match after fifty minutes, but Cassano carried his red hot international form into the league as well as he restored parity in the 64th minute. Quagliarella put the host in front again, but a second strike by Pozzi five minutes later canceled out Juventus’ advantage for the second time in succession. During the last ten minutes, the game got really intense, with kicks flying everywhere from both the sides of the pitch. It’s ironical that it was Pozzi’s brace and a strike by Cassano which prevented Juventus from securing their first win of the season. Is a certain Mr. Marcello Lippi listening?
… and the festivities end at Milan
Ibrahimovic missed a penalty on debut, as Milan were humbled by a spirited Cesena performance during their late Saturday night encounter. Cesena, who are making their comeback into the top flight of Italian football after 19 years, were playing their first home match of the season after earning a respectable away draw against Roma during the first week. Milan enjoyed bulk of the ball possession, but were missing creativity in the middle of the park. Ronaldinho had a forgettable outing and was substituted within the hour mark. Nesta and Seedorf were rested in lieu of Milan’s mid week Champions League fixture, and Cesena took full advantage of their absence. Albanian forward Erjon Bogdani put the home team in front in the 31st minute, and was later involved in setting up Giaccherini, who took advantage of Sokratis’ lapse of concentration to double the lead a minute before the halftime. Allegri introduced Robiniho and Inzaghi by the 65th minute, but the lack of a genuine play-maker left all their forwards toothless. An emphatic 4-0 win in the first weekend, coupled with the arrival of Zlatan and Robinho had made sure that Christmas came early in the red half of Milan. But this shocking 2-0 defeat is bound to serve as a wake up call for Allegri and his men. Zlatan has played for Juventus, Inter and Barcelona in the past and has scored on his debut for all of them, a feat he failed to replicate last weekend. This time around though, he failed to live up to his billing against a club whose player’s combined wages are less than his salary alone.
Lets just say they were not smiling like this during the weekend
Inter back to winning ways
The defending Italian and European champions got back to their winning ways, as Eto’s 67th minute strike made sure that the serpents would end up picking 3 points at the San Siro. Lucio scored in the 7th minute from a Sneijder’s corner to give Inter an early lead but Udinese quickly responded and almost got back in the 11th minute through the combination play of Sanchez and Di Natale. Sanchez later picked up Flores with an impeccable cross, and the latter confidently netted it past Inter’s Julio Cesar in the 31st minute. Inter Milan kept on pushing for the lead, and finally were rewarded with a penalty in the 67th minute. Eto stepped up to take the spot kick, but his attempt rebounded off the Udinese goal stopper; however, to his luck, the ball landed right next to his feet, and the Cameroon striker didn’t fail to put the round thing past Handanovic this time around. Inter went into an ultra defensive mode after taking the lead for the second time, and were able to drive their slender one goal lead past the ninety minutes to snare their first win of the campaign.
A Roman Killing
Daniele Conti started the fireworks in the 8th minute, as last year runner’s up Roma were handed a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of the Sardinians. De Rossi restored the parity in the match with his 18th minute strike. Conti was brought down four minutes later, which resulted in a sending off for Burdisso and a penalty for the home team. Matri converted from the spot kick to put Cagliari back in the lead, but nobody celebrated as Conti was carried off the pitch on a stretcher a few seconds ago. Acquafresca put the result beyond any doubt with a 38th minute. strike A 10-man Roma team attempted to salvage the game, but the second goal by Matri, just two minutes after the play resumed in the second half, buried all the chances of a Roman comeback. The final nail in the coffin came in the form of a strike by Lazzari in the dying moments of the match. Roma, who were held by the newly promoted Cesena at home during week one, were humbled at Sant’Elia stadium on Saturday evening.