Archive for the ‘Italian Serie A’ category

Updates from Serie A

October 5th, 2009

Inter Milan managed to hold on the top spot in Serie A when Sampdoria failed to score 3 points for the night at home. Sampdoria were forced to draw 1-1 by visiting Parma side. The draw demoted Sampdoria to the second spot on goal difference with 16 points from 7 games.

After two consecutive draws in the previous league games, AS Roma were facing defeat in a home game against Napoli when Lavezzi scored in the 25th minute. But Totti showed his class by scoring two goals for the home team and made sure Roma scored the maximum points for the night.

AC Milan was saved from facing humiliation by Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho, as he scored the equalizer in the last minute of the game against Atlanta. The away draw was AC Milan’s third consecutive draw in the league this season leaving the European giants at the 12th position in the league table.

Another big club, Juventus too faced defeat as they were beaten by Palermo in an away fixture. This was the old lady’s first league loss this season which kept them at third position in the league table. Bologna were defeated 1-3 by Genoa in front of their home fans.

Cagliari were beaten 1-2 at home by Chievo who came from behind after Marcolini scored twice for the night. Fiorentina who defeated Liverpool midweek drew 0-0 at home against Lazio. The match between Siena and Livorno too ended in a 0-0 goalless affair.

No comments »

Posted in AC Milan, Football Post Match Review, Football Results, Inter Milan, Italian Serie A, Juventus

Tags:

Premier League, La Liga and Serie A updates

October 3rd, 2009

Manchester United faced their first draw this season at the hands of Sunderland at Old Trafford. Sunderland opened the scoring in the 7th minute when Bent amazed Foster with his one touch bolt into the bottom left corner of the goal post. Second half saw an attacking United side. In the 51st minute Nani’s cross was curled in by a Berbatov scissor kick. Jones scored in the 58th minute giving back Sunderland their lead.

The match could have easily ended as United’s second loss this season if it was not for Anton Ferdinand’s own goal in the injury time of second half. Portsmouth scored their first points this season with a 0-1 away win over Wolves.

Tottenham Hotspurs came from behind twice in  match against Bolton Wanderers to register a 2-2 away draw. Burnley defeated Birmingham 2-1 in a match where two newly promoted clubs contested. Hull City kept their last week’s 1-6 drubbing  at the hands of Liverpool aside by registering a 2-1 home win over Wigan Athletic.

I don’t remember when was the last time Barelona had a 1-0 win at Camp Nou. Tonight they registered a 1-0 victory over Almeria. Tenerife were defeated 0-1 at home at the hands of Deportivo La Coruna whereas Atletico Madrid registered a 2 – 1 home win against Zaragoza.

Inter Milan were saved from humiliation when Sneijder scored the winner in the last minute of the home match against Udinese and gave the angry fans something to cheer for. The win took Inter to the top of the table with 16 points and a point clear to second placed Sampdoria who play their game tomorrow against Parma at home. Bari drew 0-0 against Catania, much to the home fans frustration as their team was unable to take the maximum points.

1 comment »

Posted in Barcelona, Birmingham City, Bolton, Burnley, Football Post Match Review, Football Results, Hull City, Inter Milan, Italian Serie A, Man U, Portsmouth, Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Spanish Primera Liga, Sunderland, Tottenham

Tags:

Match Day 6 in Serie A

September 27th, 2009

Inter Milan faced defeat for the first time this season when they visited Sampdoria on Saturday. 25 year old Italian striker, Pazzini could not believe his luck when he scored an easy goal as he was left unmarked by Inter defenders. The match left Inter boss, Jose Mourinho red faced as he was solely blamed for the team’s loss.  Inter not only gave away 3 points but also slipped to the 3rd spot in the table while Sampdoria gained top spot.

Fiorentina again won this week. This time the win came against bottom placed Livorno who were playing at home. After defeating AC Milan last week, Udinese defeated Genoa 2-0. The defeat left Genoa without a win in 3 consecutive games.

Lazio were playing at home against Palermo. Even the support of home fans did not inspire Lazio enough to take 3 points but the team gained a point, when 22 year old Argentine born Zárate scored a late equalizer and saved his team from a facing a home defeat. The score at the final whistle remained 1-1.

Chievo drew 1-1 at home against Atalanta. Parma and Cagliari, both clubs that had registered wins last week were playing each other today. Cagliari was paying a visit to Parma. The match gave Cagliari their second win, and Parma their second loss this season.

Napoli recorded a home win against Siena. 22 year old Slovakian midfielder, Hamsik scored the winner in the 63rd minute after Maccarone scored an equalizer in the 56th minute. Juventus, Catania and AC Milan drew at home against Bologna, Roma, and Bari respectively.

No comments »

Posted in AC Milan, Inter Milan, Italian Serie A

Tags:

Juventus draw away from home

September 25th, 2009

Old lady of football; Juventus lost their top spot in the Serie A following a draw with Genoa at their away game. The match started well for Juventus as they drew first blood in the 5th minute with a goal from Iaquinta. The world cup winning Italian footballer’s powerful strike from outside the box towards the far post left the Genoa keeper, Marco Amelia out of sync.

All seemed to be going well for the old lady but this is where the problem is. In football you can’t relax during those 90 minutes. Sculli was allowed to lob a cross inside the box in spite of two Juventus players defending closely. Sculli’s cross was crafted beautifully by Mesto into the net which left Italian keeper Ganluigi Buffon still. The score at half time remained 1-1 much to the disbelief of Juventus fans.

Marchisio’s volley into the box was collected superbly by Iaquinta but he was unable to capitalize on this opportunity, and failed to score for Juventus in the 55th minute. Again in the 72nd minute Grosso’s free kick into the box was netted beautifully by Iaquinta’s header but the goal was disallowed as it was an offside attempt. By now Iaquinta must have felt miserable for not converting these chances into goals.

Two minutes later Juventus were made to feel sorry for not scoring, as half time substitute, Argentine Hernan Crespo heads the ball into the net from a Mesto cross. In the 85th minute, four minute old substitute, Trezeguet found the net but again the goal was ruled as offside, and Juventus still trailed the home side by a goal. Next minute Grosso’s free kick into the box was netted in again by the French striker Trezeguet and finally Juventus equalized in the 86th minute. The score remained 2-2 at the final whistle.

No comments »

Posted in Articles, Football Post Match Review, Football Results, General, Italian Serie A, Juventus

Tags:

Inter regain top spot in Serie A

September 25th, 2009

Inter players pleased their boss Jose Mourinho who was serving a touchline ban by defeating Napoli at home. Mourinho was red carded in Inter’s last match against Cagliari and was also fined €15,000 for protesting the referee’s decision.

As such, Mourinho was not with his team during the match against Napoli. The scoring started early in the 3rd minute with Eto’o scoring the first goal. Certainly, not the most stylish of goals with too many players huddled around the goal post; one can say this was a goal almost waiting to happen. It sure seems to be an era of quick goals, and the next goal for Inter came within 2 minutes. Well this one certainly raises quite a few eyebrows in terms of whether or not the pass made to Milito was an offside pass or not. However, the assistant referee didn’t see any flaw and didn’t draw the flag presumably because from his perspective, Milito had cleared the offside trap successfully, gone one on one with the goalkeeper and converted brilliantly.

Not much was left of the game from this point on as it already seemed as though Inter was taking this one home. There were a few attempts from both teams in the next 25 minutes, and finally Lucio headed a 3rd for Inter. In the next 2 minutes Lavezzi scored the lone goal of the night for Napoli. The second half was bore testimony to many more goal attempts, but the days’ play ended at 3-1, with Inter bagging a few more points early on in the season.

No comments »

Posted in Articles, Football Post Match Review, Football Results, Inter Milan, Italian Serie A

Tags:

Italian Serie A Updates

September 3rd, 2009

Gianluigi Buffon believes that his team is capable of winning back to back World Cup. He says that it entirely depends on what players we select and how fit they are to survive the month long tournament. He also believes that the Italian players are susceptible to swine flu and should be vaccinated as soon as possible. Losing a player due to swine flu will not be acceptable.

Milan Vice President Adriano Galliani believes that losing the derby 4-0 to Inter does not mean that they have lost the Serie A title. He believes they are as much contender as Inter even after losing.

Ex Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri has revealed that coaching AS Roma was always a dream cherished by him. He was appointed as the new AS Roma coach few days ago after Luciano Spalletti resigned due to a bad start for the current campaign.

Alessandro Del Piero has paid tribute to Gaetano Scirea, regarded as one of the best defenders the game ever had by breaking record attendance mark for Juventus.

The transfer window has just closed and talks about winter transfer have already begun. Milan is in talks with Tottenham Hotspur for a possible swap of Marek Jankulovski and Gareth Bale. 32 year old Marek is a left back in the Milan side and 20 year old Gareth too playes in the same position. Milan would like the services of young Bale as the club is planning to build a new squad to replace its ageing players with younger counterparts. Milan has also offered €5m to Spurs for the swap.

No comments »

Posted in AC Milan, Football Transfer Market, General, Inter Milan, Italian Serie A, Juventus, Tottenham

Tags:

Italian Serie A this week

August 31st, 2009

The 2nd week at Serie A saw the two heavy weights of Italy fighting it out at San Siro. AC Milan lost the match 0-4 to their city rivals Inter Milan. The high profile match saw goals from Thiago Motta, Diego Milito (Pen), Maicon and Dejan Stankovic in the 29th, 36th, 46th and 67th minute respectively. Mourinho’s team unarguably outdid the seven times European Champions AC Milan in possibly every aspect of the game. This match also saw Gattuso being handed a 2nd yellow in the 40th minute which left AC Milan to play the remaining 50 minutes with 10 men.

Another big match was being played at the Roma stadium. AS Roma was playing against the Old Lady of football, Juventus. The match saw goals from both sides. Diego opened the scoring for Juventus in the 25th minute and an equalizer was scored eleven minutes later by Daniele De Rossi in the 36th minute. Later in the second half, Diego and Felipe Melo scored a goal each in the 68th and 93rd minute ending the match 1-3 to Juventus.

The match between newly promoted Bari and Bologna ended in a goalless draw. Napoli won against AS Livorno by 2-1. Team Fiorentina won at home against Palermo by a goal to nil. Cagliari, Atalanta and Chievo lost in front of their home fans against AC Siena, Genoa and Lazio respectively. Elsewhere Samdoria and Parma scored a win at home against Udinese and Catania. Both matches ended 2-1 to the home teams. This week’s play left Juventus at the top of the league table with 6 points, and AS Roma at the bottom with no points.

No comments »

Posted in AC Milan, Inter Milan, Italian Serie A, Juventus

Tags:

Final Playoffs for Champions League Season 2009-10

August 28th, 2009

Danish club F.C. Copenhagen was visiting Cyprus to play against APOEL FC with a one goal advantage from the first leg. The home seemed to be in a hurry to nullify the first leg score and Kamil Kosowski scored the first goal in the 2nd minute. In the 18th minute APOEL FC were awarded a penalty, which 32 year old Chrysostomous Michail converted into a goal. The home fans were already singing and dancing as they saw their side qualifying the group stage of the top European competition. But F.C. Copenhagen is a strong and experienced side.

Four minutes later 24 year old Senegalese Dame Ndoye pulled one back for F.C. Copenhagen. The score was again 2-2 on aggregate but according to the away goals rule, F.C. Copenhagen was going to qualify. Home support proved motivating for APOEL FC and home hero Chrysostomous Michail netted his second for the night in the 41st minute. Somehow APOEL FC defended all attempts from F.C. Copenhagen, and pulled through the 90 minutes and in doing so joined the elite group of teams that qualified for the Champions League.

German VfB Stuttgart had no trouble in holding Romanian club FC Timişoara. The score from the first leg being 2-0, a draw was enough for the German club to qualify and that is what Markus Babbel’s side did on Wednesday night.
Portugese club, Sporting Lisbon visited Italian side ACF Fiorentina. Each team had scored two goals in the first leg; ACF Fiorentina’s job was just to make sure that the Portugal club did not score any goal. This was not to be the case as in the 35th minute João Moutinho converted a free kick much to the shock of home fans.

Sporting deserved to lead as they were playing better but football is not a game where a team playing a better game always wins. Substitute Stevan Jovetic scored in the 54th minute, and that was enough to send the home team into the group stage according to the away goals rule.

No comments »

Posted in Champions League, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A

Tags:

Inter start with a draw

August 24th, 2009

This summer’s signing, Samuel Eto scored on his debut for Inter Milan. Despite their undaunted reputation that precedes them having been the Italian champions for the fourth consecutive year, they were held to a draw by the newly promoted Bari side. The match ended with the final scores standing at 1-1.

It wasn’t as slow for Juventus, who look stronger this season with their new signings. Juventus won their first match with a 1 goal lead which was enough to give them the much needed points at the end of game play. Italian world cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro returned to his old club after having left in 2006 for Real Madrid. Fans were still seemingly upset about his departure though. However, the Juventus side looks better this year with the arrival of Brazilian playmaker Diego.

For AC Milan, it was like starting a life after Kaka. Their season start didn’t look bad as they started with a win against Siena. The final score was 2-1, with both Milan goals coming from another Brazilian, Alexandre Pato. It was important for Inter boss Jose Mourinho to get a win against Bari as next weekend they play their city rivals, AC Milan. Mourinho believes his team is lacking a genius in the midfield. He has said that his players are doing the best they can but the lack of a playmaker rids the team of creativity. Just the start of season and everyone’s awaiting the weekend game to see who emerges the early winner.

No comments »

Posted in AC Milan, Inter Milan, Italian Serie A, Juventus, Real Madrid

Tags:

Camoranesi Out Of Milan Game

December 1st, 2007

Juventus midfielder Mauro Camoranesi has been officially ruled out of Juventus Vs Milan battle – along with Milan’s Striker, Ronaldo.

Mauro Camoranesi had been put down as a major outsider to play in the Juventus Vs Milan match after falling victim to a to a previously injured right thigh. Camoranesi failed to pass a late fitness test on Friday and was 100% ruled out of the match and didn’t travel to Milan.

Camoranesi had ruptured the injury for the first time against Udinese in September, a game that Juventus went on and lost in. He was ruled out to play for the following six weeks and returned to start as a substitute in the 10th week against Empoli. Since then he has been able to make successful appearances against Inter Milan, Parma and Palermo. Camoranesi did howver train, but it is still uncertain how long the 31 year old star will be out for.

Intended Squad for Milan Match: Juventus squad: Buffon, Birindelli, Chiellini, Almiron, Zebina, Zanetti, Salihamidzic, Iaquinta, Del Piero, Nedved, Belardi, Vanstrattan, Trezeguet, Criscito, Palladino, Nocerino, Molinaro, Tiago, Marchionni, Legrottaglie

No comments »

Posted in Italian Serie A