Serie A Review - Round 12: Juventus Back On Top, Milan And Napoli Are Held While Internazionale Win

The weekend Serie A action in round 12 presented two days of quite contrastive fashion. Out of the three matches scheduled on Saturday, only as many as three goals were scored after two games failed to bother the scorers. However, Sunday was quite action packed as some intense football was played all around the country and the intensity pretty much translated into goals as well. Post the conclusion of the weekend, Juventus have leapfrogged Udinese at the top of the table with a game in hand after the latter fell to nemesis Parma ai??i?? the usual killers of bigger teams.

Napoli and Lazio both failed to make a match worth its billing and could only manage to cancel out each other in an interesting yet uneventful draw. Milan were as wasteful as ever in front of goal and the wayward finishing cost them two points in Florence whereas their much wounded cross-city rivals Internazionale registered their third victory of the season. Luis Enriqueai??i??s underperforming Roma secured their second win in a row and signalled a definite progress to the ones having counted them out already.

Juventus ai??i?? The Team To Beat In Italy

The old lady from Turin continued their rampant form at home drubbing Palermo 3-0 courtesy goals from Simone Pepe, Alessandro Matri and Claudio Marchisio. The three players in particular are getting increasingly vital to Conteai??i??s team and more often than not manage to collectively have one of the better days at office which has tremendously strengthened the Juventus first team and players like Milos Krasic are finding it difficult to start games.

Having failed to beat Palermo at home for a frustratingly long time, Juventus ended the drought exactly in a fashion that enthralled the home supporters. With every round in Serie A passing, the Bianconeri are becoming a stronger threat but they have maintained a tendency to undergo a suicidal slump immediately post the winter break and hence deeming them title favourites will be slightly preposterous.

Milan Fail To Realize Super Six

Away trips to Florence arenai??i??t the easiest ones to make but at failing to clinch three points from this one, Milan have got only themselves to blame. Fiorentina were fairly sub-standard for the entire first half but owing to abysmal shooting and finishing in the final third, the visitors failed to capitalise on a number of opportunities. Viola came back stronger in the second half, tightened the channels and denied the champions much space to work around.

Montolivo fared decently against Milanai??i??s defence and strengthened his candidature for a winter move to the red half of Milan. The only talking point from this game will be Clarence Seedorfai??i??s perfectly legitimate goal in the first half being ruled out deeming the Dutchman being in an offside position. The offside call could not have been more inaccurate.

Patoai??i??s Return & Borucai??i??s Heroics

From Milanai??i??s perspective, the only positive note from the match was Alexandre Patoai??i??s return to the field when the dormant Brazilian made an appearance coming off the bench in the second half. Pato showed glimpses of his usual self and it took Fiorentina some favour from the wood work to deny Pato a goal to his name from a ferocious strike. Boruc made a wonderful save on rebound to keep Emanuelsonai??i??s effort out.

Thiago Motta & Controversial Decisions

Internazionaleai??i??s Brazilian turn Italian midfielder is hard to keep away from controversies. Be it his ruffle with Gigi Buffon or his being at the receiving end of Sergio Busquetsai??i?? much criticized peekaboo antics, he has always managed to remain at the centre of a controversy. The weekend clash against Cagliari too was no different as despite being quite evidently in an offside position along with teammate Esteban Cambiasso (though inactive), Mottaai??i??s goal from a Ricky Alvarez free kick stayed and all the protest from the Cagliari players was ruled out. Internazionale eventually emerged victorious 2-1.

Phillipe Coutinho ai??i?? A Ray of Hope for Inter

The eighteen year old Brazilian was a regular fixture during the initial set of matches under the regime of the unpopular Rafa Benitez during the last season and is particularly known for his pace and ability to outpace the fullbacks on flank. He is yet to make a name for himself but with the magnificent goal that he scored on Saturday at San Siro to double his teamai??i??s lead against Cagliari will certainly do his reputation a world of good and Ranieri may contemplate throwing more first team action his way.

Napoli ai??i?? Still Unprepared Before The Big Clash

They generated perhaps the biggest buzz in Europe with their league heroics last season. One of the most scintillating highlights of the season was their 4-3 win over Lazio in the most dramatic fashion possible. However, the corresponding fixture for this season turned out to be rather uninteresting and passive as Edi Rejaai??i??s men parked a bus strong enough to stop Napoliai??i??s enviable attacking triumvirate. Walter Mazzariai??i??s squad does appear fatigued and the fact that a large number of players have never been exposed to dual commitments of League and Europe is beginning to show in the indifferent performances from last one month.

Ahead of the big clash on Tuesday at San Paolo when they host Manchester City in a make-or-break contest, a lot is left to be desired for Walter Mazzari. A goalless draw is hardly a result that inspires a team going into a Champions League of these proportions.

Federico Marchetti Sends Prandelli Some Signals

The ex-Cagliari, now Lazio custodian was part of Marcelo Lippiai??i??s scheme of things and represented the national side at footballai??i??s biggest carnival in South Africa. Though he had a forgettable time during the World Cup, he further faced problems at Cagliari eventually leaving the club. At Lazio he seems to have salvaged his career after the shocking transfer of Fernando Muslera to Galatasaray. Against Napoli, Marchetti demonstrated some of his finest goalkeeping skills which may prompt Cesare Prandelli to consider him back for the national duties. Marchettiai??i??s heroics allowed Lazio to take a point off San Paolo which now puts them second only to Juventus on the table.

Luis Enrique Finally Finding His Grip In Italy?

The much hyped overhauled squad of AS Roma quite predictably failed to meet the promise it boasted as it does take time for a set of players previously plying their trade in other leagues to gel as a unit. However, time, it has taken but finally the side from the Capital is giving hints of making late arrival worth the wait. With the second consecutive win, Roma are now fifth on the table having leapfrogged the likes of Palermo and Napoli.

I?I?I?Ii?? – Ii??Ii??Ii??I?Ii?? 2-1 by buitre9

A Win Finally For Cesena

It was only a matter of time for this to happen and it finally did. Much to the agony of their fans, Cesena failed to register a single victory in their first ten games but the drought ended during the weekend as a late strike from Marco Parolo was enough to seal his team three points against Bologna.

German Denis On Top

Udineseai??i??s Argentine forward serving a loan period at Atalanta put his team in front twice only to be levelled by fellow promoted side Siena for the contest to end 2-2. In the process, Denis left his parent clubai??i??s captain Antonio Di Natale behind on the top scorersai??i?? chart. He now leads the pack with nine goals to his credit.

Controversies Make The Headlines

Referral controversies have become part of the game and cribbing about them seldom serves any real purpose. However, the weekend in peninsula was surrounded with one too many of them for anyoneai??i??s liking. Napoli, Osvaldo and Seedorf had all their goals controversially disallowed for a suspicious offside call. Osvaldo wouldnai??i??t be too bothered with the decision as his side secured the points anyway but the calls against Cavani and Seedorf did enough to deny their respective teams three points.

At the same time, Thiago Motta managed one to go his way despite being far more clearly in an offside position. Napoliai??i??s opposition for the night Lazio must be feeling justice being exacted after their goal being ridiculously disallowed last year by the linesman in the corresponding fixture.

Tiziano Crudelli Moment Of The Weekend

Though Milanai??i??s performance in Florence was far from convincing, the number one fan of Rossoneri did not fail to entertain. Hereai??i??s how.

Results At A Glance

Internazionale	2 – 1	Cagliari
Fiorentina	0 – 0	Milan
Napoli	0 – 0	Lazio
Bologna	0 – 1	Cesena
Catania	1 – 2	Chievo
Genoa	1 – 0	Novara
Juventus	3 – 0	Palermo
Parma	2 – 0	Udinese
Siena	2 – 2	Atalanta
Roma	2 – 1	Lecce

Team Of The Week (4-4-2)

Federico Marchetti (Lazio); Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Alessandro Nesta (Milan), Steve von Bergen (Cesena), Rodrigo Taddei (Roma); Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Marco Parolo (Cesena), Miguel Veloso (Bologna), Sebastian Giovinco (Parma); German Denis (Atalanta), Phillipe Coutinho (Inter)

Serie A Review – Round 12: Juventus Back On Top, Milan And Napoli Are Held While Internazionale Win

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