Well, for once in the past month (and I do choose my words carefully), a matchday in Serie A took place without refereeing incidents. Granted there was only one match programmed for Tuesday, but one of a very delicate nature. Derbies are never easy to officiate (especially when they bear the name ‘Derby della Mole’) and coming from a week-end of Dondarini-filled horrors in Reggina-Juventus, the spotlight on the ‘man in black’ was shining twice as brightly for this one. However, I’m glad to report that referee Nicola Rizzoli performed very decently tonight. As for the game itself, it was a hard-fought battle, higher in physical highlights than technical ones: in the end, seeing Juventus and Torino share the points tonight seems like a fair result.
Tactically, both managers were dealing with some roster problems before this game. Claudio Ranieri had to deal with David Trezeguet‘s unavailability, coupled with Cristiano Zanetti‘s suspension. As a result, Raffaele Palladino got the head start over Nocerino in midfield, causing Mauro Camoranesi‘s shift towards the middle (partnering Momo Sissoko). Up front, Alessandro Del Piero paired up with the returning Vincenzo Iaquinta. As for Walter Novellino, the Torino coach hesitated until the last minute, on which strikers to use for this important match. In the end, he surprisingly picked Alvaro Recoba to start over both Rosina and Di Michele: the Uruguayan playmaker was indeed starting the match with Roberto Stellone.
The first period was rather enjoyable to watch in terms of intensity, albeit not so much in terms of scoring chances. Recoba and Camoranesi were trying their best to fulfill the playmaking role for their respective teams, alternating bits of brilliance with some dodgy passing. To find the first real shot on net of the game, we had to wait until minute 27: a Camoranesi free-kick from the right wing found the header of Iaquinta, and forced Matteo Sereni to spring to an athletic save over the bar. Before and after the header, Del Piero had a few shooting attempts (wide) from his favorite spot: 4-5 yards outside the box, free-kick position.
Torino was trying hard too, attempting to avoid the uncomfortable role of underdog. Gianluca Comotto was playing marathon-man on the right wing, pushing up to provide offensive help then running back to cover his back-line, and the fact the Bianconeri defense was playing very high up the field, considerably helped Torino’s efforts in trying to find space. 
However, an impeccable Giorgio Chiellini was always there to neutralize the Granata efforts, and thus inevitably the half ended on a scoreless draw.
In the second period, little changed to the way tonight’s game was developing: Juventus dominating the ball possession, and Torino trying to hit back on counters. The appearance of their nº10 Alessandro Rosina (on for Aimo Diana) gave the Granata a much-needed creative boost, and they immediately obtained a few shooting opportunities (through Recoba, Stellone, and Paolo Zanetti). On the other end, the productivity of Camoranesi as a central midfielder was dropping somewhat (his buddy Sissoko wasn’t helping much either, missing an increasingly frustrating number of passes), so Del Piero stepped up to the plate, delivering accurate crosses and nearly lethal shots from set-pieces (his 68th minute free-kick towards the top-left corner was brilliantly parried away by Sereni).
Speaking of free-kicks, Torino nearly took the lead in minute 74, when a great delivery by Rosina found the Juventus crossbar and was then cleared out of danger (Buffon not even hinting a move). 
Aside from that huge highlight however, the Bianconeri were the ones who were trying harder: Palladino found the back of the net in minute 62 but saw the goal called off for offside, while a Camoranesi diving header 6 minutes from the end, tested Sereni’s reflexes yet again (Iaquinta and Chiellini missing the open-net tap-in by a hairbreadth).
In the final minutes, frustration got the upper hand in the Bianconeri ranks: sparks started to fly between Pavel Nedved and Gianluca Comotto, with the latter theatrically falling to the ground after getting his hair pulled by the Czech midfielder. Inevitable red card for the Juventus player, who will now miss (along with Chiellini, receiving a yellow) the important match vs. Fiorentina next week-end. With the loss vs. Reggina, this has been a week Bianconeri fans will want to forget very rapidly. 0-0 the final scoreline.
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0-0 [Match Highlights] |
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| GOALSCORERS: / | ||
| JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Buffon – Zebina, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro – Palladino (63’ Nocerino), Camoranesi, Sissoko, Nedved – Iaquinta, Del Piero. (bench: Belardi, Birindelli, Grygera, Stendardo, Salihamidzic, Tiago). Coach: Ranieri. | ||
| TORINO (4-4-2): Sereni – Comotto, Natali (27′ Dellafiore), Di Loreto, Pisano – Diana (48’ Rosina), Grella, Barone, Zanetti – Stellone, Recoba (81’ Lanna). (bench: Gomis, Corini, Di Michele, Ventola). Coach: Novellino. | ||
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But speaking of ‘Leons’, the real lion of this week-end’s fixtures and main man behind his team’s 5-3 final scoreline vs. Udinese, was another Genoa player: Marco Borriello. To truly show off his skills, all the Genoa striker was waiting for was opportunity. This week-end, he got that opportunity and boy, were we in for a show!! 3 goals against Udinese, 15 goals in the Serie A this season, reaching King Trezeguet and his “I’ll-make-scoring-look-easy” friends. With his second hat-trick of the season, there’s no doubt Marco must have caught the eye of Roberto Donadoni (who had already called him for the Italy-Portugal friendly). There’s a little more than 3 months left until Euro 2008 begins, and with this week’s performance, the ex-Milan striker is in prime position to be part of the Azzurri expedition to Austria/Switzerland this Summer. Besides, with the non-so-brilliant form period which Alberto Gilardino and Fabio Quagliarella are going through, there’s really no reason why Donadoni should ignore a striker who, at 26 years of age, seems to have achieved full physical and technical maturity.
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And what about Roberto Stellone and Andrea Gasbarroni, both protagonists of the most entertaining match of the week-end, Torino vs. Parma? Stellone, age 30, has had a pretty decent career thus far, albeit one filled with multiple injuries. Roberto is a guy who doesn’t score many goals, but when he does score his efforts are always quite spectacular. 
He practically saved Walter Novellino’s job as a manager (recall his goal vs. Reggina), and since then the Torino coach has always kept him in the starting line-up. With extremely good results. As for Gasbarroni, his technical talent isn’t up for discussion. His continuity certainly is, but that’s the deal with unpredictable players like Alessandro: when they’re in a moment of form (such as Saturday at the Turin Olimpico) they can really wreak havoc. Two vital goals, one stunner on a free-kick effort.
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