Week-End Reviews

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Italy.TheOffside.com week 15 review

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Italian Calcio Blog week 15 review

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Gazzetta in English week 15 review

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A last-gasp goal by brazilian striker Amauri gave Juventus a 2-1 win at Lecce on Sunday while injury-ravaged AC Milan beat Catania 1-0 at the San Siro thanks to a Kaká goal.

Amauri nodded home in the 90^th minute after Lecce’s Daniele Cacia had cancelled out a fine 52^nd-minute free kick by Sebastian Giovinco. Juve had plenty of possession in the first half but posed little threat to the tidy hosts. They looked more dangerous after the break when Italy under-21 forward Giovinco, standing in for injured captain Alessandro Del Piero, drove into the top corner to score his first goal in Serie A with Juventus.

Lecce responded well to falling behind and Jose Castillo wasted a great chance before Cacia levelled with a delightful volley. But Amauri‘s goal meant it was all to no avail for the southern side, who have not won a league match since September. “This win is worth a lot because we knew this would be a difficult, hard-fought match,” Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri told Sky television. “We were overconfident. They scored a great goal, but luckily this team never give up and we got a goal in the last moment.”

Lecce 1-2 Juventus Match Report (mCalcio)

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Kaká’s 65^th-minute header from a corner, which took a touch from Catania defender Lorenzo Stovini on the way into the net, was enough to end Milan’s four-match winless run in all competitions.

Milan made a bright start at the San Siro despite being without a host of injured regulars, including Ronaldinho, Borriello, Seedorf, Pirlo and Ambrosini. Andriy Shevchenko, Paolo Maldini and Emerson all came close early on and Kaka had a shot pushed onto the post shortly after Catania forward Giuseppe Mascara had hit the woodwork at the other end. Milan suffered after taking the lead in the second half. Mascara had a header well saved in the closing stages, when the visitors also had a penalty shout for handball by Kakha Kaladze denied.

Milan 1-0 Catania Match Report (Channel4)

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Second-placed Milan and third-placed Juventus, who meet in Turin next weekend, both have 30 points from 15 games, six behind champions Inter Milan, who did a 3-0 hammer-job at the expense of Lazio on Saturday. The Nerazzurri took a very early lead thanks to Walter Samuel, and continued to inflict damage on their opponents eventually increasing their lead to three (goals by Diakité (o.g.) and Ibrahimovic).

Earlier that day, Roma over-powered Chievo thanks to a brilliant volleyed effort of Jeremy Menez.

Chievo 0-1 Roma Match Report (mCalcio)

Lazio 0-3 Inter Match Report (mCalcio)

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Finally, the biggest match of the week-end was of course the Genoan Derby della Lanterna featuring Sampdoria vs. Genoa. It was match made of aggressive tackles, fouls, and plenty of yellow cards, at the end of which the Rossoblu prevailed, courtesy of a beautiful header by Diego Milito.

Sampdoria 0-1 Genoa Match Report (mCalcio)

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In other games, fourth-placed Napoli beat Siena 2-0 at home thanks a second-half blitz that produced goals by Christian Maggio and Argentine striker German Denis. Fiorentina thrashed struggling Torino 4-1 to consolidate fifth place with the help of a brace by Italy forward Alberto Gilardino, who temporarily joined Genoa’s Diego Milito at the top of the Serie A scorer standings with 11 goals. The home defeat leaves Torino boss Gianni De Biasi in grave danger of losing his job.

For summaries of other matches, check out Channel4′s Week 15 page.

GOALS of the WEEK

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Some nice goals this week. Two free-kicks (Giovinco and Mutu), a crazy long-range piledriver (Barreto), and the beautiful volley of Jérémy Menez. You can find all of them in Francesco’s post over at the Italy Offside.

For our own segment however, and you’ll pardon me for doing this, the video-clip I’m choosing isn’t a goal per say. Nope, it’s a simple pass… a pass which is so outrageous, crazy, and spectacular, it deserves its very own spot in the segment.

Take it away Mr. Zlatan….

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Serie A 2008-09 Matchday 15

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	Chievo	0-1	Roma
	Lazio	0-3	Inter
	Atalanta	3-0	Udinese
	Lecce	1-2	Juventus
	Torino	1-4	Fiorentina
	Cagliari	1-0	Palermo
	Milan	1-0	Catania
	Napoli	2-0	Siena
	Reggina	2-2	Bologna
	Sampdoria	0-1	Genoa

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Tags: Serie A

Posted in Serie A |

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