Italian Serie A 2011, Week 8: Napoli, AC Milan Clinch Wins

So that Napoli team, they’re kind of good, huh? They’re kind of fun too. Especially when they are scoring goals like this one by Ezequiel Lavezzi where he...you know what, I won’t bother explaining it. It wouldn’t do it justice. Just watch.

Health Warning: Watching this goal could cause erections lasting more than four hours. If so, please contact your physician immediately.

Nocerino scored the opener in the 30th minute, technically assisted by Ibrahimovic, but in reality assisted by the Parma defense. A sea of defenders completely failed to pick up Nocerino and clear the ball when Ibrahimovic laid the ball across the box to him, then goalkeeper Antonio Mirante - perhaps stunned at his teammates’ incompetence - stood still when Nocerino got through one-on-one, allowing him to score easily.

Ibrahimovic added a goal of his own in the 73rd minute, which was quickly answered by a Sebastian Giovinco strike in the 78th minute. Nocerino would finish off the game and put the icing on the cake for Milan, though, completing a hat trick with a headed goal in stoppage time.

Both teams play with a back three, both teams play an exciting style of football, both teams have goal-scorers, and neither team plays with two forwards. They are a terrible matchup for each other, and at the same time, an absolutely terrific matchup for each other from a neutral perspective.

Udinese won both meetings between the two teams in the 2010-11 season, and both games featured goals for both sides. This match will be, above all, entertaining. If it produces a winner, that team is going to have a serious early leg-up on the other in the race towards the Scudetto.

Since then, Juventus have had a ludicrous number of chances, finishing the half with eight shots on goal and 63% possession. Mirko Vucinic has been laughably wasteful for the hosts - he might have scored a hat-trick had he been more clinical - and you’d have to imagine that Juventus could easily regret not taking advantage of the opportunity to kill off their opposition here. Fiorentina have been abject, but they could well sneak a goal in the second half. If Juventus start taking their chances, they’ll score six.

All the Serie A you can want, all at once -- well, almost, anyway. Juventus host Fiorentina on Tuesday, but the other nine matches are played concurrently on Wednesday. Fortunately, there’s not a lot of thrilling matches being played midweek, so it probably won’t be difficult to choose which to watch. It looked as though Napoli - Udinese would be the most exciting of the Wednesday matches, but with the zebrette taking sole possession of the top of Serie A, and Napoli faltering as they attempt to juggle the Champions League, even the outcome of that game looks predetermined.

The weekend’s results put Udinese top, with Lazio second and Juventus third. Inter’s win moved them away from the relegation zone, where Lecce, Bologna, and poor Cesena linger, with Novara not far ahead. Meanwhile, Milan’s comeback win against Lecce put them within shouting distance of the European positions, and it’s not difficult to imagine a scenario in which they’re able to capture third place come the end of Wednesday.