Serie A Week 21: AC Milan Win, 2-0 Over Cesena, To Stay Top

After a sparkling first half featuring plenty of attack and fight from Cesena, the Seahorses faded after the break. Maximiliano Pellegrino's own goal just before the halftime whistle put a damper on the visitor's spirits, and they spent most of the second defending their goal. To Cesena's credit, however, they've done a fine job at the back, with much of the praise going to the excellent goalkeeping of Francesco Antonioli, who constantly pushed away shot after shot.

The own goal, in the 45th minute, came when Antonio Cassano lifted the ball over the heads of the Cesena defense, aiming for the feet, or possibly the head, of Zlatan Ibrahimović, but it was Pellegrino who stuck his foot in and put the ball in the net. Once again, the Seahorses were undone by their own dumb luck.The own goal remained the sole goal of the match until Ibrahimović scored in the dying seconds of injury time. The Swede picked up a through ball from Robinho on the right side of the area and shot it into the bottom left corner to give Milan the 2-0 win.

While the Milan win pushes them four clear at the top of Serie A, the team still seemed shaky. They were able to create plenty of chances, but very few of them involved any sort of creativity, and most of their shots went straight to Antonioli. Robinho, in particular, seemed to encounter a magical force field every time he approached the goal. The work of the Rossoneri may not have been pretty today, but it was sufficient.

After wave after wave of attack by AC Milan, which again and again found a watertight Cesena defense, the Seahorses were once again undone by one of their own. Maximiliano Pellegrino, who scored an own goal in the 89th minute against Roma to give the visitors a win, again plays the anti-hero for Cesena. Antonio Cassano looped a terrific ball over the heads of the Cesena defense, where it was meant to find the foot of Zlatan Ibrahimović, who was just onside. But replays show it was actually Pellegrino's foot that poked through and nudged the ball into the Cesena net.

Another match, another burst of bad luck for Cesena. They were more than matching the play of league leaders Milan before the goal, yet for the final two minutes of the half, it was all the home side. Mario Yepes came forward and nearly scored his own goal, with just a desperate scramble by Cesena ensuring that the scoreline remained 1-0.

In the 20th minute, Alessandro Nesta went to ground, tugging Cesena forward Igor Budan with him. This shirt yanking earned Nesta more than a slap on the wrist:once he was up, the referee showed yellow, but Nesta headed to the touchline clutching his wrist. Just two minutes later, Sokratis was on in his place, which certainly isn't going to reassure fans of AC Milan.

In fact, this comedy of errors is indicative of the first thirty minutes of the match. Cesena have had the better of the two chances, forcing two saves from Milan keeper Christian Abbiati within two minutes, with a goal line clearance sandwiched in between. On the other end of the field, the Rossoneri chances have become almost comical. Again and again the likes of Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimović have sent shots toward goal, only to meet either the strength of the Seahorses' defense or send the ball straight into the arms of Francesco Antonioli.

AC Milan host Cesena as they bid to push their lead at the top of the Serie A table back to four points. Second-place Napoli put pressure on the leaders with a 2-0 win at Bari, which means that three points are vital for the Rossoneri at home to 18th placed Cesena. Milan, who failed to win last week against Lecce despite a wonder-goal from Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovich, are fielding a 4-3-1-2, which Massimo Ficcadenti's Cesena will try to counter with a 4-3-3.

For Milan, Christian Abbiati starts in goal for the first time in three matches, while Gennaro Gattuso was a late scratch after picking up an injury during the warmup. Cesena are without suspended forward Emanuele Giaccherini, which will make their task at the San Siro that much more difficult. French forward Dominique Malonga will get his first start in Giaccherini's place. Cesena already beat the leaders this season, and as Inter Milan's 3-1 defeat to Udinese showed earlier today, anything can happen in football.

AC Milan (4-3-2-1): Abbiati; Abate, Nesta, Yepes, Antonini; Silva, Merkel, Ambrosini; Robinho; Ibrahimovich, Cassano.

Subs: Roma, Bonero, Oddo, Calvano, Pato, Papastathopoulos.

Cesena (4-3-3): Antonioli; Ceccarelli, Pellegrino, Von Bergen, Dellafiore; Caserta, Colucci, Parolo; Schelotto, Budan, Malonga.

Subs: Piangerelli, Calderoni, Bogdani, Sammarco, Appiah, Gosbarov, Benalouane.

After a fairly boring second half for Napoli (and for Bari as well), Edinson Cavani finally doubled the score for the visitors. Ezequiel Lavezzi sent in a beautiful cross from the left side, which Cavani easily knocked in. With his foot, too, meaning that makes two league matches in a row that Cavani has not scored with his head. It's like the world stopped turning.

This match was defined less by the players and more by the referee, although that's not exactly uncommon in Serie A these days. Prior to Lavezzi's 38th minute goal, Napoli had been denied two legitimate penalty shouts, with the ref also deciding to look the other way when Lavezzi took an elbow to the face. But Lavezzi found his revenge shortly after, knocking in Cavani's lovely free kick to put Napoli up 1-0.

Bari continued to play desperate football in the second half, knowing that they wouldn't be punished for hacking at the visiting players' legs. The plan backfired on the Galletti, however, when Alessandro Parisi sent off in the 67th minute after picking up a second yellow. Down to ten men, bottom-dwelling Bari had nothing left to give.

After Cavani's game-deciding goal in the 87th minute - bringing "Napoli Time" back into the vernacular - Bari remain bottom of the Serie A table on just 14 points, while the partenopei take sole possession of second place, just one point off AC Milan.

Injuries, petulance, poor officiating, and misplaced passes were the stories of the game on this Sunday afternoon as Juventus and Sampdoria played to a poor 0-0 draw in which neither team looked like they ever got started. The two most exciting players on the pitch, Milos Krasic and Giampaolo Pazzini, were substituted off with around a half hour to go, effectively ending any chance the match had of being entertaining. Krasic was inexplicably taken off as a tactical substitution, while Pazzini appeared to sustain a serious ankle injury.

The first half was riddled with injuries, as both Armand Traore and Stefano Lucchini were forced out of the match in the opening 10 minutes. The latter injury was caused by Amauri, who swiftly elbowed Lucchini in the face. Despite the fact that Lucchini was carted off and Amauri very well might have broken his cheek bone, he was not booked.

Manchester United loanee Federico Macheda made his full debut for Sampdoria, and it took him a very long time to get seriously involved in the match. He started to look okay late in the second half, but his first 60 minutes or so was characterized by very bad decision making and bad touches. He wasn't the only guilty party, though. Almost no one had a good game from a technical standpoint, as both teams gave the ball away with unforced errors over and over again.

In the 91st minute, Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero had a chance to score the winner, but despite being completely unmarked with a clear shot at goal from 12 yards out, he skied the ball into Row Z, coming nowhere near the target. It was an absolutely fitting end to an exceptionally poor encounter. 

Serie A Sunday is certainly buzzing, unless, of course, you're a Juventus or Sampdoria fan. Or possibly a Chievo Verona or Genoa fan, with no goals in that match, either.

The match at Sampdoria at least gives viewers something to talk about. First we had a battle of the injuries, with Armand Traore leaving the pitch for no apparent reason and then some blood flying about. Now there's a ref that apparently can't see without his glasses. Juventus are the better team, but it might not happen for them today.

In Bologna, the home team has taken a surprising 2-1 lead over Lazio, despite the visitors taking the lead in the fourth minute through Sergio Floccari, after a great back and forth with Hernanes. Gastón Ramírez and Marco Di Vaio both scored within five minutes to give Bologna the lead.

Fiorentina are losing to the visiting Lecce, although the 1-0 scoreline could certainly be worse. David Di Michele scored the opener but then missed a penalty kick, hitting the bar instead.

In Bari, there's also some questionable refereeing, with Napoli having been denied at least two penalty shouts and Bari's facial elbowing of Ezequiel Lavezzi. In the end, however, Lavezzi got his revenge, poking in a Edinson Cavani free kick to give Napoli the 1-0 lead.

With Udinese winning 3-1 over high-dreaming Inter Milan earlier this morning, the Serie A table could experience a bit of a shakeup.

For anyone who watches football, it's a given that some of the referee's calls won't go your team's way. For anyone that watches Serie A, it's assumed that sometimes, the ref just might be slipped a little something to give the big clubs advantage. And in this match between Bari and Napoli, it seems almost impossible to believe the referee isn't biased. There have been at least two clear penalties denied Napoli (who have the opportunity to move within one point of Milan should they win) and when Ezequiel Lavezzi was elbowed in the face, the referee kept his cards in his pocket.

So Napoli found a way to score that the referee could not deny. After the elbow to his face, Lavezzi was shoved off the ball again, and this time the whistle had to be blown. But for some unknown reason, a Bari player grabbed the ball, which understandably angered Napoli, as it was the visitors' free kick. Handbags ensued as tensions finally boiled over. Edinson Cavani took the free kick for Napoli and Lavezzi, possibly desperately trying to prove a point, broke through the wall and flew toward the ball, with the ball either bouncing off a red shirt or off Lavezzi. Either way, the goal stands, with Napoli up 1-0 over Bari.

Apparently Armand Traore didn't really fancy a game today. After just one minute on the pitch, the French left back on loan for Arsenal signaled to the bench that he needed to be substituted. Incredibly, Traore came off under his own power and was not immediately tended to by the trainer as he came off for Fabio Grosso.

I'm not questioning that Traore is injured, he almost certainly is. It's just interesting that he made basically no effort to see if he could continue. Meanwhile, just a couple of minutes later, Amauri had to be tended to on the sidelines because blood was coming out of some part of his face. Covered in a facemask and bandages, Amauri has decided to soldier on. After coming back onto the pitch, he decided someone else needed to look like him and elbowed Stefano Lucchini in the face. This did not produce a card, somehow. Luchinni was carted off, and Sampdoria brought on Pietro Accardi to replace him. 

Just 30 seconds after the substitution, Angelo Palombo went down in agony for Sampdoria. SOMEONE STOP THIS. 

Inter Milan scored the opening goal of the match, but Udinese fought back to notch a well deserved 3-1 victory over their opponents this afternoon in Udine. Mario Domizzi and Kwadwo Asamoah, in particular, were brilliant for the hosts, while everyone else contributed in some way to a great team effort.

The opener came after 16 minutes from Dejan Stankovic, by way of Thiago Motta. The Brazilian won a great 50-50 challenged and surged forward with the ball, laying it across the box to Stankovic. His finish past Samir Handanovic was superb, and Inter had the lead.

It would last just five minutes, though, as central defender Cristián Zapata would score a brilliant goal - surprisingly, with his feet. Following a corner kick and the ball getting deflected out of the box, it was sent back in towards Zapata who controlled the ball beautifully with his first touch before finishing well past Luca Castellazzi. 

Udinese would take the lead just four minutes later, as Dejan Stankovic would give back his early goal when he committed a silly foul on Gokhan Inler 20 yards from goal. Antonio Di Natale stepped up to take the free kick and he curled it into the back of the night, capitalizing slightly on the poor positioning of Castellazzi.

The clincher would come in the 69th minute, thanks to two men who contributed a ton to Udinese's cause on both sides of the ball, Asamoah and Domizzi. Asamoah looped a header into the box between Ivan Cordoba and Castellazzi, and Domizzi beat both players to it, tapping the ball into the back of the net out of the air with a superb touch. 

Udinese's 3-1 win won't move them up the table at all thanks to the four point gap between them and Palermo, but it's an emphatic result that will lift their spirits and bring them three points closer to European places. Inter Milan had been cruising under Leonardo since the sacking of Rafa Benitez, but this unfortunate result could do some serious damage to their title hopes.

The second half of this Serie A match between Udinese and Inter Milan has been plenty eventful, but with both teams defending well, it looked like it might be difficult for either team to find a goal. Udinese have broken the match's dry spell and added a third goal, with Maurizio Domizzi finishing off a great chance.

Kwadwo Asamoah, who is having a fantastic game, picked up the assist. It wasn't a traditional one, though, as he went up into the air to win a header that looped over Ivan Cordoba into the box. Domizzi and Inter goalkeeper Luca Castellazzi appeared to be entering into a 50-50 challenge for the ball, but Castellazzi did poorly while Domizzi did brilliantly. While the ball was up in the air, he flicked it up and past Castellazzi with a light touch, scoring Udinese's third goal to give his team a 3-1 lead after 69 minutes.

Leonardo has reacted to Udinese's goal, bringing on the attack-minded Jonathan Biabiany for Thiago Motta. Motta provided a great assist on Inter's goal, but he picked up a yellow card for a very poor challenge in the second half and looked like a possible red card waiting to happen.

Inter Milan scored the opener, but they only held the lead for five minutes and only held a draw for another four. Udinese have turned a one goal deficit into a one goal lead in under ten minutes thanks to Christian Zapata's equalizer and Antonio Di Natale's fantastic go-ahead goal.

In the 24th minute, Dejan Stankovic appeared to foul Gokhan Inler just outside of the penalty area, giving Udinese a free kick in a dangerous position. Inter protested the decision to give a free kick, but it appeared to be correct. Udinese's leading goal scorer Antonio Di Natale stood over the ball and hit a fantastic direct free kick, curling over the wall and away from Inter goalkeeper Luca Castellazzi into the back of the net. The spectacular goal was number 15 on the season for Di Natale, who is putting together yet another spectacular year.

Inter will feel slightly aggrieved to have conceded two goals because they are defending extremely well, but Udinese is looking lively and creative, and they have made the most of their chances.

It didn't take long for Udinese to come back from Inter Milan's go-ahead goal, as Colombian international Christian Zapata has scored an equalizer following a corner kick...but not with his head.

Zapata's goal was scored with his feet, and he showed some fantastic skill for a central defender, reminiscent of fellow South American Fabricio Coloccini's goal yesterday for Newcastle against Tottenham Hotspur. Udinese's corner kick was deflected out of the box and was sent back towards Zapata in the box, who took a spectacular first touch to set himself up for a great shooting opportunity. He made the most of it and finished beautifully to knot up the game at 1-1.

Udinese looked extremely lively after Inter's equalizer, or more specifically, after Dejan Stankovic hit the crossbar in the 18th minute, and were pushing forward for a goal. They probably couldn't have imagined it would come this way, though. Zapata is skilled for a central defender, but the skills he showed on his goal were still extremely impresive.

Inter Milan aren't deploying the most creative and attack-minded midfield in the world, but it didn't take long for two so-called "holding" players to combine for a very nice goal, and it was made by some defensive qualities.

In the 16th minute, Thiago Motta won a great 50-50 challenge and surged forward on the right side of the pitch with plenty of space after winning his tackle. He laid the ball back across the box towards Dejan Stankovic, who finished past Samir Handanovic at his far post with a clinical strike from 15 yards. 

Besides the goal, there's been plenty of action, with Maicon putting together a comical 30 seconds in the 7th minute. In a short stretch, Maicon hit an atrocious set piece, got caught out of position on a counter-attack, and almost scored an own goal. Also, on the 18th minute, not long after the goal, Dejan Stankovic narrowly missed scoring a brace when he rattled a volley off the crossbar.

Jérémy Menez finished off the scoring for Roma in the second half, taking the ball through the Cagliari defense and tempting Michael Agazzi out of his net. Agazzi fell over, allowing Menez to simply run past and put the ball into the open net. Menez and Mirko Vučinić brought a definite spark to the Roma offense when brought in in the 68th minute, but goals by Francesco Totti and Simone Perrotta meant that Menez's goal was simply icing on the cake.

Cagliari started out the match brightly enough, but unfortunately for the visitors, that brightness lasted all of the first ten minutes. Andrea Cossu's shot in the sixth minute was forced over the bar by Roma goalkeeper Julio Sergio, but that was about as close as Cagliari got to the back of the net.

Totti opened the scoring in the 21st minute for Roma,converting a penalty after Michele Canini bundled over Daniele De Rossi in the area. While Totti's play may not have quite justified his staying on the pitch for the full ninety minutes, the Roma captain looked a sight better than he had in recent weeks. 

Perrotta doubled the home side's lead after a blunder by Agazzi. The Cagliari keeper grabbed a header from Juan but then dropped it at the feet of Perotta, who stuck it in the back of the net. With that goal in the 70th minute, Roma were high and dry. Cagliari grabbed a few half-hearted chances, but were mostly content to let Roma run around their defense, quite literally, in the case of Menez's goal.

So Roma pull out a 3-0 win over Cagliari, and move up to second place in the process. But with Napoli, Lazio and Inter Milan all to play tomorrow, they shouldn't get too comfortable there.

For the first twenty or so minutes of the second half, the match between Roma and Cagliari has been fairly tame, with not much happening at either end. With the introduction of Jérémy Menez and Mirko Vučinić in the 68th minute, many Roma fans fully expected things to heat up. Which they did, but not due to either of the substitutes.

Daniele De Rossi sent in a long range shot which Cagliari goalkeeper Michael Agazzi pushed over the bar for a corner. Francesco Totti took the corner with Juan coming in to head the ball down. Agazzi fumbled the ball, dropping it at Perrotta's feet. The midfielder seized his chance and stabbed the ball into the back of the net.

With less than 15 minutes remaining, it seems unlikely that Cagliari will come up with an answer to Roma's goals. They look utterly defeated, with their minds already on next week's match against Bari and the greater possibility of a win.

After enduring a spell of pressure by the visiting Cagliari, including a shot from Andrea Cossu that Julio Sergio was forced to tip over the bar, it's Roma that have the lead. After Daniele De Rossi was bundled over in the area by Cagliari defender Michele Canini, the referee rightly blew the whistle and signaled to the spot. Say what you will about Francesco Totti's performances this season. He might at times look haggard and weighed down, but the man can still take a penalty kick. Goalkeeper Michael Agazzi dove the wrong way and Roma had the lead by the 21st minute.

Yet the Rossoblu are not content to sit back and let Roma have the win. They keep pressuring what is often a precarious back line. Within the first five minutes, in fact, Juan had bundled over an attacking Cagliari shirt in a move that very well could have been a penalty for the visitors. It wouldn't be at all surprising if his weakness led to a Cagliari goal.