It sure was a good day for clubs from Southern Italy on the 2^nd day of Serie A: Reggina and Catania managed to avoid the loss (Reggina obtaining the equalizer at the 90′), while Palermo and Napoli went on to display some very entertaining soccer, and produce the wins with the biggest number of goals today!

Serie A – day 2
Empoli – Inter	0 - 2
Atalanta – Parma	2 - 0
Cagliari – Juve	2 - 3
Catania – Genoa	0 - 0
Livorno – Palermo	2 - 4
Roma – Siena	3 - 0
Sampdoria – Lazio	0 – 0
Torino – Reggina	2 – 2
Udinese – Napoli	0 - 5
Milan – Fiorentina	Mon

Livorno – Palermo

I don’t know if it’s as much the revival of Palermo (on which I still have some doubts) or the fact that Livorno has been the team which, in these first two days of Serie A, has had more leaks than a wooden schooner infested with termites (1-5 at Juve and now 2-4 at home… and pardon the nautical reference, I’ve been rewatching Pirates of the Caribbean lately), but in any case the result of this face-off today was a highly enjoyable performance, with plenty of goals and great entertainment to watch. Unless you’re a Livorno fan of course.

It doesn’t help when your team is down 2 goals within the first 30 minutes of play, but in the case of Livorno coach Fernando Orsi, if you’re starting to substitute your men before the first half is over (poor Tavano), you know you’ve fu**ed up somehow with the starting line-up. Meanwhile, the Palermo frontline had eaten lion meat for dessert because Miccoli, Amauri and Cavani were running anywhere they could find space (and considering Livorno’s efforts today, that’s a lot of real estate). As a Juve fan, I’m still biting my nails at the fact that the Old Lady didn’t keep Miccoli in Turin (God that guy is good… and fast…. and a good free-kick taker… groan)

Anyways, the score was 4-0 at the half, with the 3 points pretty much in the bag for the Sicilian team. Not much the Livorno coach could do except… oh yeah, change his whole roster (or well, the allowable 3 subs at least). Seemed like a good move because Livorno came back with 2 goals in the 2^nd half (courtesy Rossini and Grandoni). Too little too late though.

	LIVORNO-PALERMO 2-4
GOALSCORERS: 10’ Rinaudo (P), 24’, 38’ Miccoli (P), 42’ Amauri (P), 54’ F.Rossini (L), 75’ Grandoni (L)
LIVORNO (4-4-2): Lucia – Grandoni, Knezevic, Galante, Pasquale – Alvarez (54’ Vidigal), Pulzetti, Loviso, A.Filippini – Tavano (36’ Bogdani), Tristán (54’ Rossin). (bench: Di Matteo, E.Filippini, Pavan, Balleri). Coach: Orsi.
PALERMO (4-4-2): Fontana – Zaccardo, Rinaudo, Barzagli, Capuano (14’ Pisano) – Diana, Migliaccio, Simplicio, Cavani – Miccoli (73’ Bresciano), Amauri (85’ Jankovic). (bench: Agliardi, Tedesco, Guana, Brienza). Coach: Colantuono.

Udinese – Napoli

Now, as much as being 0-4 down at home was bad for Livorno, try losing 5-0, in your home stadium, to a team that has just been promoted back to Serie A! Needless to say that Udinese’s president Giampaolo Pozzi wasn’t jumping for joy during this match.

It’s hard to label this game as either a perfect match for Napoli, or a horrible miscarriage for Udinese. But in the words of Gazzetta journalist Alessandro Ruta, in the doubt one can safely state that this was a man-of-the-match performance for Napoli’s Ezequiel Lavezzi (2 assists and a very nice goal). Other than that, it was a match dominated by the Neapolitans from start to finish: the Udinese forwards, led by Quagliarella, Asamoah, and Floro Flores (with an added Di Natale later on) did very little to change the game’s momentum, in a match which had set off very early on the wrong path (Zalayeta opening the score in the 16′). Napoli kept pushing forward, Lavezzi was virtually unstoppable at times, and the goals just kept coming.

On an added note, funnily enough (much like Miccoli for Palermo) this game also had an ex-member of Juve rise and shine: Marcelo Zalayeta. “El Panterón” scored 2 goals here today, so you have to wonder if all these players judged “surplus” by the Bianconeri simply deserve more than one chance to prove themselves. Juve’s other player on loan (Manuele Blasi) also played.

	UDINESE-NAPOLI 0-5
GOALSCORERS: 16’, 70’ Zalayeta (N), 41’ Domizzi (N), 65’ Lavezzi (N), 81’ Sosa (N)
UDINESE (4-3-3): Chimenti – Mesto, Coda, Zapata, Dossena – Eremenko, Boudianski (46’ Sivok), Inler – Quagliarella, Asamoah, Floro Flores (56’ Di Natale). (bench: Handanovic, Zapotocny, Lukovic, Pepe, Paolucci). Coach: Marino
NAPOLI (3-5-2): Iezzo – Cupi (53’ Contini), P.Cannavaro, Domizzi – Grava, Hamsik, Gargano, Blasi (83’ Bogliacino), Savini – Zalayeta (75’ Sosa), Lavezzi. (bench: Gianello, Montervino, De Zerbi, Calaiò). Coach: Reja.

Finally, a word on Scudetto contenders: Inter went to Empoli to pick up their first win of the 2007-08 season, with two convincing goals by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Meanwhile, Roma ‘turned on the style’ again by beating Siena 3-0 at the Olimpico, in a match which saw Francesco Totti get the “Scarpa d’oro” (Golden Boot) award for best topscorer of the past season.

Waiting for Milan-Fiorentina now, to be played on Monday evening…

Posted in Livorno, Napoli, Palermo, Serie A, Udinese |

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