The fun of Serie A continued this weekend as traditional powerhouses Internazionale, AC Milan and Juventus continue to try to push Lazio out from the top of the table. Napoli, Sampdoria, and Chievo Verona are just behind, while AS Roma has recovered from their weak start to the season.
Serie A Week Nine: Lazio Remain Four Points Clear At Top Of Italian League
Lazio, who spent most of last season trying to lift themselves out of the relegation zone, eventually finishing twelfth, moved four points clear at the top of the table with their 0-1 away win against Palmero. Andre Dias scored off a free kick in the 27th minute, leaving Palmero chasing the match, but a stunning display from Fernando Muslera held off all 23 shots from the home side. Lazio is now set to face rivals Roma next week in the first Rome derby of the season.
Roma are back in the top half of the table after a 2-0 win against visiting Lecce, but will be without captain Francesco Totti next week, who was shown a red card after Roma’s second goal for a poor reaction to a foul by Ruben Olivera. Totti had to be prevented from chasing Olivera down the tunnel after both were sent off.
Sampdoria grabbed a last-minute winner at Cesena with a stoppage time goal by Giampaolo Pazzini, with the 0-1 loss pushing the home side down into the relegation zone. Samp’s win could only momentarily distract from their issues with talisman Antonio Cassano, whose status at Sampdoria is uncertain after he swore at club president Riccardo Garrone.
Juventus showed themselves to be back in the race for the Serie A title with their 1-2 win over AC Milan. Fabio Quagliarella gave the visitors the lead before Alessandro Del Piro doubled it in the 66th minute by scoring his record-breaking 179th goal in Serie A. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored against his former club in the 82nd minute, but the goal was more about pride than anything else.
Inter Milan scored a lucky goal against Genoa in first-half stoppage time when Sulley Muntari , who replaced the injured Esteban Cambiasso, sent a shot in from 25 yards. The ball bounced in front of keeper Eduardo before glancing off his shoulder and into the net. The home fans never managed to recover, losing 0-1. Inter, meanwhile, are without goalkeeper Julio Cesar for their match against Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday, the Brazilian limping out of the match with a hamstring injury.
Napoli and Brescia played a fun game of slip-and-slide on Sunday in the heavy Lombardy rain. While the home side got off to a bright start, Napoli barely let them out of their half in the second-at least, not until Hugo Campagnaro almost scored an own goal while diverting Perparim Hetemaj’s kick. Fortunately for the Partenopei, they were able to grab a goal five minutes later, when Ezequiel Lavezzi scored of Marek Hamsik’s cross, leaving Brescia with a 0-1 defeat.
Udinese sent Bari rock-bottom with their 0-2 away victory. Alexis Sanchez scored the first in the 16th minute and then set up Mauricio Isla’s goal in the 60th. Bari had the opportunity to get into the game when Abdel Kader Ghezzal was brought down in the box by Cristian Zapata, but Paulo Barreto’s resulting penalty kick was saved by Udinese keeper Samir Handanovic. This makes four successive defeats for Bari.
Cagliari lifted themselves out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 victory over Bologna, with Nene and Radja Nainggolan both scoring in the second half. Chievo slipped to seventh in a 0-0 draw with Palmero, which saw both sides reduced to ten men, while Catania and Fiorentina also drew 0-0. Adrian Mutu may not have been able to lead La Viola to victory, but he did make an impression for Fiorentina after his nine-month ban, forcing Catania keeper Mariano Andujar into a save just three minutes in.
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