Serie A Week 31: Saturday Wrap
This match should have been a pushover for Milan. The Serie A’s top team at home against a side barely out of the relegation zone? Easy. Even easier after Zlatan Ibrahimovic converts a slightly dodgy penalty just after the half hour mark. But Fiorentina were having none of it Stefan Jovetic levelled immediately following the restart, and Amauri added injury to insult with an 87th minute winner for the visitors. The game finished 2-1, a result that throws the title race into complete chaos.
The hosts got off to a blistering start with a Matias Schelotto goal six minutes in, but Siena rallied quickly via a penalty, with Andrea Consigli fouling Marcelo Larrondo in the box, the striker converting his own spot kick. That goal looked like it was enough for Siena to grab a draw until the visitors did one better in injury time, Mattia Destro striking from close range to make it 2-1 Siena.
Cagliari vs. Inter Milan
Cagliari had a great chance to dispatch Inter at home but they managed to blow it in improbable fashion after having Mauricio Pinilla sent off for a second booking after the forward scored what he presumably thought was the winning goal. The hosts had already blown one lead, with Diego Milito almost instantly cancelling out Davide Astori's first half goal, and the visitors managed to pull one back against their ten-man opponents, the match eventually ending at 2-2.
A boring 0-0 draw.
Chievo Verona vs. Cagliari
Chievo recorded a win over Cagliari which was made immeasurably easier by the dismissal of Nicolas Spolli in the 19th minute after the defender slipped then knocked down Sergio Pellissier in the penalty box. By then, Michael Bradley had already scored after a cutback, and after Pelissier tucked away his spot kick it looked as though the home side would romp to a win. An amusing own goal by Marco Andreolli, however, reduced the deficit to one, and the two teams traded goals in the second half to keep it close. Chievo would eventually win 3-2, but the game was far more stressful than they would have liked.
Lecce vs. Roma
Last anyone checked, it was Lecce who were in the relegation zone and Roma who had dreams of a Champions League spot, which made the former rushing out to a four-goal lead all the more bizarre. They weren't lucky goals either - the first was scored by Luis Muriel after an inch perfect through pass from Guillermo Giacomazzi, the second came after Roma failed to deal with a corner, the third was an incredible long-range hit by Muriel and the forth was a clear penalty after Gabriel Heinze brought down Muriel (him again!). Roma only managed to reply in the last few minutes of the game, but their two-goal rally was only enough to slightly mitigate the embarrassment of getting hammered by relegation fodder.
Genoa wasted a golden chance to win at Novera after going ahead through Rodrigo Palacio barely five minutes in. After scoring, the visitors retreated into a defensive shell and were eventually made to pay the price when Giuseppe Mascara slammed home from the edge of the box just after the hour mark. Novara did go down to ten men when Andrea Caricciolo was shown a straight red in the 88th minute, but it wasn't enough to inspire the visitors to grab another goal, and they'll be alarmed by Lecce climbing to within four points of them.
Kwadwo Asamoah scored twice as Udinese romped past Parma at home to reinject themselves into the Champions League discussion. Asamoah latched onto Antonio di Natale's flick just before half time to give the hosts a 1-0 lead, and the provider turned scorer soon after the interval when the captain slammed home a Pablo Armero cross in the 56th minute. Antonio Luciarelli made things slightly interesting late after turning in a corner kick, but Asamoah's second wrapped up the 3-1 win for Udinese in the 92nd minute.
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