Everyone expected the Inter vs. Milan derby to be an epic showdown, but ironically Serie A’s biggest entertainment this week-end came from Genoa vs. Fiorentina. Although to be fair to both teams, this match had already been anticipated as a “Champions League” battle: a showdown between 4th and 5th-placed usually always gives rise to interesting results.
But who on Earth could have predicted six goals and one of the most dramatic come-backs of the year, an equalizer deep into stoppage time and everything. Not only that, but the added bonus of a “hero” (these matches usually have at least one): the one and only Super Adrian Mutu who marked a top-notch performance with the first hat-trick of his Italian career.
With a new round of Serie A coming up, the juiciest piece of footy action this week-end is probably the tie between Fiorentina and Lazio. The home side have come through a rough period but are back to winning ways after two convincing victories vs. Napoli and Bologna. Lazio on the other hand go into this game on the back of three straight defeats, and desperately need the win if they are to hold any aspirations of qualifying for Europe this season.
Without a doubt, the last couple of days have been “milestone time“. Raúl scored his 307th goal for Real Madrid on Saturday (equalling Alfredo Di Stefano all-time topscoring record). The following day, Lionel Messi put his name on Barcelona’s 5000th league tally, and today in Serie A’s postponed match between Bologna and Fiorentina, Adrian Mutu increased his Italian personal count to 100. “Records are meant to be broken” indeed.
But speaking of Mutu, his double does not only give Fiorentina three very valuable points; it also confirms La Viola’s position at the 5th spot of Serie A standings. Just to prove that whenever the Romanian striker’s around, Prandelli’s boys are really capable of reaching the heavens.
The perfect example of “a match of two halves”, Saturday’s Fiorentina vs. Udinese also delighted Serie A fans with a big deluge of goals, courtesy of some often shaky defending (on both sides) but more so of the great prideful reaction by Cesare Prandelli’s boys. One goal down early in the game, La Viola looked over the precipice, reacted and came back as only a great fighter would.
In particular, today’s lasting image was the big “fu** you” message (figuratively speaking) sent by Riccardo Montolivo to all his critics, after his uninspiring mid-week performance for Italy. The Viola midfielder literally took his team by the reins, providing the playmaking and the scoring, and capping a great performance with two nicely taken goals.
AC Milan‘s poor early-season form continued on Sunnday when they lost 2-0 at Genoa for their second consecutive defeat. Giuseppe Sculli struck in the first half and Diego Milito converted a stoppage-time penalty to leave Milan with no points in Serie A after they lost their opener 2-1 to promoted Bologna. The result increases the pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti following Milan’s disappointing 5th-place finish last season and an embarrassing 2-0 defeat at second-division Swiss side Lugano in a friendly on Wednesday.
Champions Inter Milan beat Catania 2-1 at home (thanks to two Sicilian own goals), while last year’s runners-up AS Roma lost 3-1 at Palermo on Saturday, despite taking the early lead.
In other matches, Napoli came from behind to beat Fiorentina 2-1 thanks to second-half goals by Marek Hamsik and Christian Maggio after Adrian Mutu had put the visitors ahead four minutes before the break. The end stands of Napoli’s San Paolo stadium were closed and will remain shut for the next two home games as a penalty after violence marred their opening-day visit to Roma. The game was also one of three games considered high risk which away fans were banned from, along with Genoa-Milan and Saturday’s match between Inter and Catania at the San Siro.
Lazio are the early pacemakers in Serie A this year, courtesy of a 2-0 home win over Sampdoria secured with goals by Mauro Zarate and Goran Pandev. Atalanta also have a 100% win record from two games after Tiberio Guarente gave them a 1-0 victory at Bologna.
Finally, Lecce overcame Chievo at home thanks to goals by Caserta and Castillo, Reggina vs. Torino ended in a 1-1 draw (goals by Amoruso and a Di Loreto o.g.), while Siena went on to defeat Cagliari at home through Calaió and Ghezzal.
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GOALS of the WEEK
Keeping true to our “more quality, less quantity” tradition (I change it when it suits me), here’s the candidates for goal of the week… .
And the winner is… Giuseppe Sculli. Not so much because of the individual finish (a banal diagonal effort) but rather due to the orchestrated teamplay and action as a whole, in particular the gorgeous Milito chest-pass. Maldini and Favalli don’t know what hit them…