Serie A Review – Round 5: Milanese Clubs And Roma Taste Victory As Juventus Stumble

Round five of Serie A came to an end on Sunday but not before the Italian giants Internazionale, AC Milan and AS Roma secured their much needed first wins of the season respectively. TheHardTackle brings a wrap up of the weekend’s action.

Wrap Up

The Nerazzurri kicked off the weekend action in Italy on Saturday night against Bologna under the watchful eye of their new manager Claudio Ranieri. Inter were missing their charismatic midfielder Wesley Sneijder but that did not hinder them in disposing off a 10 man Bologna at Renato Dall’Ara. Few late goals earned Inter three points as Ranieri started his tenure with a win. Elsewhere, their bitter rivals Milan picked up their first win of the season thanks to a sublime strike by their skipper Seedorf at San Siro against Cesena, who are yet to earn a point this season. Milan now has exactly the same points from the same number of games just like last season, when they lifted the Scudetto.

Napoli failed to live up to the expectations of their home crowd as they had to settle for a goalless draw against Fiorentina as both of them squandered a chance to go on top of the table. The visitors from Florence should consider themselves very unlucky as they completely outplayed the side from Naples. With this stalemate, Napoli is currently in the fourth position with seven points.

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Juventus and Udinese both kept their undefeated record in the league intact but both teams should thank their stars as the result could have very easily gone against both these clubs who were on the road over the weekend. Krasic got the equalizer for the Turin club after Bergessio had given a much deserved lead to the hosts Catania in the 20^th minute. Juve tried hard to get the decisive goal but were stopped in their tracks by a team determined to come away with a single point.

At Sant’Elia, Cagliari dominated bulk of the proceedings against Udinese but were unable to beat Handanovic in goal, who saved a powerful free kick of Daniel Conti in the 80^th minute. Agazzi and Handanovic saved as many as 10 shots between them as both the teams fought for possession. Conti was appearing for his club for 328th time, which is a club record. With this draw, Udinese’s unbeaten start to the season remains intact.

Siena earned their first victory of the season when they took on Lecce at home. An early opener from Destro gave the home the lead in the 6th minute. Even though they saw more of the ball, Lecce were unable to conjure up a goal. Siena took advantage of Lecce’s inability and pumped in two more before the final whistle. Lecce had Esposito sent off in the 62nd minute folowing a late tackle on Destro.

Atalanta then took on Novara at home, with the visiting team on a high after defeating Inter last week. With the wind in their sails, Novara attacked Atalanta from the very onset of the match. Atalanta took the lead against the run of play as Novara continued to look for their first strike. Their efforts bore fruit as Porcari scored in the 89th minute, but it was too little too late. With this win, Atalanta remains as one of the three teams in the league not to have lost any matches so far. If Atalanta would not have been deducted six points for match-fixing allegations, they would now have topped the table ahead of Juventus.

Osvaldo’s 50th minute strike handed Luis Enrique first win of his Serie A career as manager against Parma. Ze Eduardo had a golden opportunity to secure a point for the hosts deep into the stoppage time as Roma’s defenders failed to clear the ball but the Parma substitute shot was off target.

Match of the Week

Chievo v Genoa

The flying donkeys came from behind to snap the unbeaten streak of Genoa in this match.  After a goalless first half, all hell broke lose in the second. Palacio opened the scoring for Genoa minutes after the start of the second half but ten minutes later the visitors were reduced to 10 men after Dario Dainelli was shown a straight red with half an hour left to play. Chievo was awarded a penalty due to Dainelli’s alleged foul on Pellissier but Frey kept them in the match coming up with a fine save. Pellissier made up from the missed penalty fifteen minutes from time as he restored parity in the match.

The hosts kept on pressing for the winner as their perseverance finally paid off when Moscardelli scored from a header in the dying seconds of the game.

Goal of the Week

Seedorf (Milan)

Milan’s acting captain Clarence Seedorf turned back the clock as his outrageous effort from outside the left side of the box in the fifth minute landed in the top right corner. Ravaglia who had an exceptional game and prevented Milan from scoring a second for the next 85 minutes could only stand in awe of the veteran’s shot.

Flop of the Week

Carmine Russo (Referee) Chievo v Genoa

Russo’s controversial decision to hand Dario Dainelli a straight red at the hour mark, turned the match on its head. Pellissier was already falling onto the ground as his shot was rolling safely into Frey’s arm but Dainelli cut him from behind and the referee Russo wasted no time in handing him a red card. After going down to 10 men, the Rossoblu were forced onto the back foot. They never recovered from the shock and ultimately Russo’s horrific decision returned to haunt them as Chievo scored the winner with the last kick off the match.

Star of the Week

Emanuele Calaio (Siena)

Brace from Emanuele in the second half gave Siena their first victory of the season against Lecce. Calaio scored from a Destro assist from nine yards to double the lead after Destro had given them the lead in the 6^th minute. His presence of mind led to the team’s third, which settled the match as Calaio chipped the ball from 30 yards after catching Lecce’s keeper Sergio off his line.

 Team of the Weekend

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Results