Posts Tagged ‘Davide Ballardini’

Palermo 0-4 Catania: Rossazzurri K.O. Rosanero, Mascara Scores a Wonder-Goal (Serie A Matchday 26)

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Palermo 0-4 Catania: Rossazzurri K.O. Rosanero, Mascara Scores a Wonder-Goal (Serie A Matchday 26)

There comes a time when the soccer blogger, journalist, or newscaster is at a loss for words to comment the spectacle he/she sees on his/her TV scren. Palermo vs Catania is one such example, because “crazy” doesn’t even begin to describe what happened at Renzo Barbera stadium today.

Gazzetta defined the following “miracles of a derby”:

  • Believe or not (this had me floored when I read it), Catania had not won an away match for over one year and a half. How did they choose to break that negative trend? With a 4-0 victory, against Palermo of all teams.
  • This season and before this match, the Rossazzurri had only scored six on away games.
  • The last away victory of Catania in the Derby della Sicilia was 16 years ago, back when the two teams were still in Serie C1,
  • Giuseppe Mascara‘s last goal in the Serie A dated back to December (hat-trick to Torino). How did he break the ice? A smashing 50m half-volley right under the crossbar, a goal-of-the-year contender if there ever was one.
  • Ironically, Catania’s man-of-the-match wasn’t any of their scorers, but their keeper. With five fantastic saves on the 3-0, Albano Bizarri kept a clean sheet and concurrently provided the cherry on the cake on an already wonderful team performance.

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Palermo 0-2 Juventus: Welcome Back David, Chelsea Here We Come (Serie A Matchday 25)

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

David Trezeguet is back!

May 17, 2008. That is the last time one Mr. David Trezeguet had scored in the Italian Serie A: almost an unthinkable waiting period for a goalscorer of his caliber, but which finally came to an end Saturday night as Juventus overcame Palermo.

And it certainly was no easy feat, as the Bianconeri battled with a motivated, tactically disciplined, and physical Rosanero team, who obtained their fair share of scoring chances but in the end were forced to capitulate against an impenetrable Gigi Buffon and the scoring cynicism of their opponents.

And with Juventus, all three Serie A teams with upcoming UCL mid-week action have gathered full points, something which in terms of team morale should make a big contribution in their favor. “Europe here we come“!

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Palermo 3-1 Milan: Rosanero >>> Rossoneri at Stadio Barbera (Serie A Matchday 14)

Monday, December 1st, 2008

Carlo Ancelotti has a plan for December. His plan is to catch up to Inter before the Christmas break, so that his team can go on holiday with a good psychological advantage.

After the events on Sunday evening, it seems like Carlo should think of a “plan B”.

AC Milan got litterally trampled on Sunday, besieged and mocked by the best Palermo side of the season. Even though the goals were all scored in the second half, the Rosanero dominated all of the 90 minutes of play, eventually piercing through the (weak) Rossoneri defenses with Miccoli, Cavani and Simplício. Milan’s late reaction (Ronaldinho P.K.) was thoroughly insufficient as Ancelotti’s team repeated (and even amplified) all of the limits shown in the draws against Lecce and Torino.

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Palermo 0-2 Inter Milan: Zlatan Power, Express Delivery (Serie A Matchday 12)

Saturday, November 15th, 2008

José keeps his promises. On the match eve, Mourinho had said “Juve will only stay on top until Saturday evening”. Said & done, Inter Milan won 2-0 courtesy of one Mr. Ibrahimovic: Zlatan was in stunning form tonight, and apparently he’s been also practicing his free-kicks (his second goal was clocked at 124 km/h!).

As for Palermo, Ballardini’s team held their own for about 45 minutes, i.e. for as long as stamina allowed them to keep pressing high. In the second half, an early goal and a mental collapse meant the end for the Rosanero.

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Juventus 1-2 Palermo: Rosanero Exploit in Turin, Bianconeri go from Bad to Worse (Serie A Matchday 6)

Sunday, October 5th, 2008

After tonight’s display between Juventus and Palermo, the (Bianconero) cynic in me has this to say: at least we didn’t tie. Indeed, after three consecutive draws against Catania, Sampdoria, and Bate Borisov, Claudio Ranieri can finally get rid of the “Mr. X” tag that was bestowed upon him this past week. This time, Juventus lost.

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