Serie A, Week 24 preview and fixtures: Roma and Milan falter on Sunday

With just over 15 minutes to go, a death knell rang out for Palermo, with the sound of tumbleweed blowing across the Renzo Barbera turf the only noise in the ground. Not only had they contrived to miss chance after chance against arguably the weakest team in the division, but they’d conceded. Birkir Bjarnason, the substitute, headed into the net to hand his side the lead. Serie B beckoned.

But, just over five minutes later, the scores were level. A cross from the right bounced through the crowded area and perfectly into the path of Diego Fabbrini, who was lurking at the far post. This time, he couldn’t miss, stabbing the ball into the net to open his Palermo account.

Roma took control of the match from the off and the players looked as if they wanted to impress new boss Aurelio Andreazzoli. The opening exhanges saw the Giallorossi pass the ball around Sampdoria with ease and after four minutes, Erik Lamela cut in from the right and fired in a cross which was deflected behind. From the resulting corner, Miralem Pjanic was unfortunate to head wide.

Sampdoria were barely getting a sniff, and although they were managing to have odd forays up the pitch, they weren’t coming close to creating anything, their best chance coming when Leandro Castan diverted a corner towards his own goal however Maarten Stekelenburg had it covered.

It was a dominant start from the hosts, and after trapping a long-ball well, Di Natale rounded Gillet well, only to scuff his shot wide when Maicosuel was waiting in a much better position.

Udinese could have killed the game again after the hour, playing in their usual counter-attacking fashion. A long ball up towards Di Natale found its intended target, though he flashed his shot across the face of goal and behind.

Constant safety issues plaguing the IS Arenas saw this game moved to Turin then back to Sardinia after an emergency appeal. The authorities then failed with a bid to have the game played behind closed doors.

Balotelli sent another setpiece into Agazzi’s arms as the second half got underway. Five minutes in, Conti’s shot from the edge of the area was a whisker away from finding the top corner after some good build up play from the home side.

The Greek playmaker had a shot on goal straight after his introduction, though his long range effort deflected behind off a defender.

Just short of 20 minutes in Amauri -- and no, I’m not making this up -- ran the length of the Genoa half to fire a shot on Sébastien Frey, though his effort was straight at the ex-Parma goalkeeper -- that’s more like the Amauri we know and don’t love.

Inter Milan Injuries and Suspensions

Chievo Injuries and Suspensions

Udinese Injuries and Suspensions:

Out: Željko Brkić (injured) Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (international duty) Andrea Lazzari, Danilo (suspended)

None known

Match Date / Time: Sunday, February 10 at 3 p.m. local, 9 a.m. ET

Lulic wasted another golden chance after dispossessing Cannavaro, only to run clear and send a weak shot straight into De Sanctis’ grateful arms.

With three minutes left to play, Marchetti picked up some flying miles to palm Inler’s rocket wide. From the resulting corner, Napoli found their equaliser. Campagnaro caught El Kaddouri’s cross with a beautiful volley which zipped past everyone into the net.

Malesani looks set to try and improve things by not changing much at all -- initially, at least. Early signs suggest he’s going to stick with the not-so-watertight three man defence which has conceded 37 times in 23 games so far this campaign.

They are the lowest scorers in the division with 19 goals, while Palermo are only one goal better off. It is, however, the rosanero who are bottom of the table, with 17 points. Pescara are still in the relegation zone, though have three points more than the Sicilians.

It shouldn’t have been so easy for Juventus on Saturday, but Fiorentina forgot to show up, and essentially handed the league leaders a 2-0 victory.

Despite Fiorentina starting off on the right foot, Juventus did as Juventus does -- sat back and waited for the quarter hour to pass before coming alive. Just two minutes into the match, the visitors had their first opportunity. Juan Cuadrado did well, streaking up the right side before sending the ball over to Stevan Jovetic. But, perhaps due to some aliens taking command of his neurological pathways, Jojo elected to send the ball into the stratosphere. This would become a theme of the match.

While the visiting side has the advantage of a string of remarkable results -- they’re undefeated in 2013 -- Lazio’s play may be fueled by a twinge of desperation. The biancocelesti may have beaten Juve to advance to the Coppa Italia semi-final, but that’s their most impressive result of the last few weeks.

That element of uncertainly should make this match exciting -- for neutrals, at least. Napoli supporters will likely spend 90+ minutes hiding behind the sofa.