Italian Serie A 2011, Week 4: Roma Grab Key Win Over Parma

It wasn’t a fantastic performance by any means, but it was a good one. Parma hadn’t lost at home in some time, and Roma pretty comprehensively outplayed them until the last few minutes, whenupon a desperate last offensive by the hosts briefly threatened to tie the match up - Ze Eduardo really should have scored in injury time when a minor catastrophe in the Roma box saw the ball fall to the substitute in space. So, the visitors deserved the win, but Parma will be regretting wasting the opportunities they did have. The finishing from both sides could have been much better, and it was far from a convincing performance. Oh well! Three points!

Ok, so the Chievo match was kind of exciting. Whether a last-minute goal by Davide Moscardelli to scupper the visitors’ unbeaten streak was exciting enough to overcome the natural issues this game was subject too on account of being Chievo vs. Genoa, the only footballing contest that sounds as though it’d be more interesting as a lawsuit, I leave for others to decide. Although the guests went 1-0 up shortly after half time through Rodrigo Palacio, Dario Dainelli got himself sent off ten minutes later, and Chievo took advantage (despite missing the subsequent penalty) to eventually overrun the Genoa defence, with Moscardelli heading home in the 93rd minute. 2-1.

Foolishly, I’ve saved the draws for last. Whoops.

All three members of the Napoli front line were far from at their best, and with Fiorentini never committing enough men forward for the home team to launch successful counterattacks, neither team really looked a good bet to win. That said, there were several good scoring chances for both sides, and Napoli had their fair share of penalty shouts turned down while the Viola forced goalkeeper Morgan de Sanctis into some very good saves. It wasn’t a boring 0-0, but it wasn’t an action-packed one, either. Instead, it was a fascinating tactical battle, and with Napoli more in need of points than their visitors, you’d have to say that Sinisa Mihajlovic won it.

Some probably thought Milan did an excellent job to defend perfectly for 85 minutes after they scored. Good for those people. Most of the world found this game absolutely dull beyond belief.

Seedorf’s goal, an absolutely stunning chip over the keeper, came on a corner kick, with Urby Emmanuelson providing the assist. Since scoring that goal in the 5th minute, Milan have been content to keep possession and try to defend their league. While it is a tad bit negative, it’s also understandable. Milan are a decimated club with their current injuries, and the players that they do have healthy keep the ball and defend much better than they create and score.