Serie A, Week 36: Wednesday Ends With Juventus, Milan Separated By Just A Point

Well. I think I need to go lie down, after that bit of Wednesday night excitement...

AC Milan 2-0 Atalanta

Milan have moved to within a point of Juventus following this win over Atalanta. From the start, they were off and running, and it was only a matter of time before Kevin-Prince Boateng set up Sulley Muntari for the opening goal. But it took the news that Lecce had equalised against Juve to really perk things up. Andrea Consigli beat away a free kick from Zlatan Ibrahimović, but it fell to Robinho, and not even the Brazilian could miss from that distance.

Catania 0-1 Bologna

Sigh. Catania, you had so much potential.

Cesena 0-1 Udinese

Diego Fabbrini kicked things off for Udinese in the fourth minute, but the visitors still did their damnedest to try and drop points. It's not often you see a team competing against an already-relegated club go ahead and try to give the game away, but Udinese did just that when conceding a penalty to Adrian Mutu. But Mutu hit the bar and Udinese walked away with the win, putting them back in joint-third.

Fiorentina 2-2 Novara

Tempers were clearly running high in Florence tonight. Down 2-0 by the 30th minute, Delio Rossi pulled Adem Ljajić in favor of Rubén Olivera, just after he'd sent a header too high. Ljajić gave his coach a mocking thumbs up, and in response, Rossi threw a few punches at the midfielder. Seems normal. But hey, the Viola came back and drew, so maybe this is a spectacular new strategy by Rossi.

Genoa 2-1 Cagliari

It's hard to believe that one of the top scorers in Serie A is on Genoa, but he is, and Rodrigo Palacio bagged another against Cagliari. Genoa were so busy celebrating this possible redemption that they barely noticed when Lorenzo Ariaudo equalised two minutes later. And after those 13 minutes, nothing happened. Except, you know, Genoa winning a match. Give Boško Janković a raise.

Juventus 1-1 Lecce

Head over here for more information about Gigi Buffon's tremendous error.

Parma 3-1 Inter Milan

It may have seemed crazy when, after last weekend's results, Tommaso Ghirardi said that Parma have an outside chance of qualifying for the Europa League. But tonight's win over Inter is their fifth straight. The nerazzurri took the lead into halftime on a stunning goal from Wesley Sneijder, but in the space of three fateful minutes, it all fell apart for the visitors. Fernando Marqués scored off a through-ball from Sebastian Giovinco, and three minutes later, it was Gio himself doing the dirty work, giving Parma the lead. Just for fun, Giovinco set up Jonathan Biabiany late in the match to really make sure that Inter had suffered.

Lazio 1-1 Siena

In yet another battle for third place (are you losing count? I sure am) Lazio actually managed to score against Siena. How did they do it? Oh, yes, Antonio Candreva drew a penalty and Cristian Ledesma converted. Unfortunately for the Champions League chasers, Mattia Destro had already scored a header. That's down to fifth place for the former league leaders.