Serie A, Week 4: Juventus Now Alone At Top Of Serie A
Week 4 of Serie A kicks off with Parma hosting Fiorentina, and continues on until Siena visit Inter Milan on Sunday evening. Will there be any surprises?
Roma have been awarded all three points against Cagliari after their match on Sunday was suspended, due to Cagliari's decision to invite supporters to a game scheduled to be played behind closed doors.
How long as it been since a match has been won at the San Siro? Well, it certainly hasn't happened yet this season, as neither Inter Milan nor AC Milan have managed to record even a point at their home stadium. San Zero, anyone?
It should have been simple for the nerazzurri today. Siena were the visitors, coming in with -4 points as a result of their role in the match-fixing scandal. But this bianconeri had fought a hard battle with Udinese last week, coming back to draw 2-2, and were intent on pulling themselves out of the bottom of Serie A.
Siena looked determined to take all three points right from the start. Emanuele Calaio was dangerous, Ze Eduardo wanted a goal and Inter had no idea how to smother Angelo. However, it took until the 73rd minute for the visitors to break through. Ze Eduardo and Simone Vergassola combined to breeze through the Inter defence, with Vergassola the one to slide the ball past Samir Handanovic.
The home side never really got back in the match, and Siena made their win convincing with a second goal in stoppage time. Francesco Valiani got on the end of a cross from Andrea Sestu, his header making all three points certain for Siena.
The match between Cagliari and AS Roma, scheduled to be played behind closed doors, has been called off. Despite safety concerns at the Is Arenas in Sardinia, Cagliari president Massimo Cellino invited supporters to come on down to watch. Cellino felt the stadium perfectly acceptable to hosting a match, and took it upon himself to defy the local authorities. Now, Cagliari could be punished for stopping the match, and Roma awarded a 3-0 victory.
Roma, of course, prefer such a solution. The club have stated that the fault lies with Cellini, and they should not be punished for the situation. The rules must be respected -- a difficult concept in Italy -- and a defeat handed to Cagliari.
As for the hosts, Cellino sees his maneuver as "defending our right to exist." The future of Cagliari is being undermined by local disinterest, according to the club, and taking such a step was a way to keep the club alive.
Chievo Verona with their somewhat ridiculous kits and the even more ridiculous typeface on the kit, fell 2-0 to Juventus despite putting up a pretty good fight. Unfortunately, points are not awarded to team's for pretty good efforts. Juve were the better side all day and if not for a fantastic performance from Flying Donkey's keeper Stefano Sorrentino, it could have been worse.
Seriously, The Flying Donkeys are many things, but first and foremost they're an advertisement for standardized kit fonts in professional football. As for the shirt, which is the club's third kit this year, it's half yellow and half green...it looks like something you'd see in a high school drama class production of Romeo and Juliet.
Juventus looked to get on the board first in the 26th minute after Mirko Vucinic volleyed a shot off a Mauricio Isla pass, but Vucinic was in an offside position. Juve were the better side throughout the half but I can't lie, the first 45 minutes was right up there with watching paint dry or grass grow. Sorrentino deserves a shout out for keeping his team in the game with several nice saves.
It took until the 63rd minute for Juventus to finally break through. Fabio Quagliarella let loose a beautiful quasi-bicycle kick shot that Sorrentino deflected down before it bounced up in to the net. Quags scored a second five minutes later with a nice shot to the right corner of the goal.
With the win Juventus moves three points clear at the top of Serie A, at least until the other teams behind them all play tomorrow.
Week 4 of Serie A kicks off with Parma hosting Fiorentina, and continues on until Siena visit Inter Milan on Sunday evening. Will there be any surprises?
