Napoli ended Inter Milan’s wonderful winning run in the Italian Cup thanks to two goals from Edinson Cavani, the result automatically puts the Partenopei advancing into the semi final where they’ll meet Siena.

The match also marked the return of the Southern Italian club’s Argentinian forward, Ezequiel Lavezzi, who has been out for quite sometime due to thigh injury, however he still hasn’t found his touches as just yet on the night.

Napoli’s match up against Inter in the Cup is something that Mazzarri and his boys waited as they’re looking to take revenge on last season’s failure in the same competition against the Nerazzurri. The home team took the initiative immediately from the kick off and created several openings, notably from Cavani and also Marek Hamsik.

Some controversies already arrived in the first period when Wesley Sneijder escaped a straight red card after committing a horribly dangerous tackle on Walter Gargano, which could really sent the Uruguayan into medical room. However, the match continues without anyone getting red carded as both teams created goal scoring chances with the Partenopei being a little bit ahead maximizing their home turf advatage.

Despite being more dominant in the attack, It took around 50 minutes for Napoli to take the lead and it was Cavani who crafted the opening from the spot kick after Thiago Motta tripping the Uruguayan striker in the penalty area. The Nerazzurri tried their best to get back into the game but the Partenopei hold on well until the final minutes and even managed to seal the victory deep in extra time from Cavani’s double in the match.

Meanwhile, in the other match, 10 men Siena stunned Chievo with a goal from substitute player, Mattia Destro, who scored from point blank after receiving a flick from midfielder Alessandro Gazzi. The result puts Giuseppe Sannino’s side into the semifinal, which is a rare occasion for them and it would be interesting in seeing whether they will go for broke considering they will be facing Napoli in the next round.

Match Reports:

Napoli v Inter 2-0
Goals: Cavani pen 50, 93 (Napoli)
Napoli:De Sanctis; Campagnaro, Cannavaro, Aronica; Maggio, Gargano, Inler (Dzemaili 81), Zuniga; Hamsik (Dossena 87), Lavezzi (Pandev 65); Cavani
Inter:Castellazzi; Maicon, Ranocchia, Samuel, Chivu; Zanetti, Thiago Motta (Zarate 76), Cambiasso, Obi (Alvarez 46); Sneijder, Milito

Chievo v Siena 0-1
Goal: Destro 54 (Siena)
Chievo: Puggioni; Frey, Morero (Paloschi 64), Mandelli (Bradley 80), Acerbi, Drame; Vacek, Cruzado, Hetemaj (Kirilov 87); Moscardelli, Uribe
Siena: Farelli; Belmonte (Bolzoni 66), Rossettini, Rossi, Angelo; Mannini (Terzi 51), Parravicini, Gazzi, Grossi; Gonzalez (Destro 51), Reginaldo

photo credit: Tanzen80

Ac Milan temporarily reached the top spot of Serie A after picking up an important victory over Cagliari on Tuesday, an own goal from Pisano and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s excellent effort gave the Rossoneri a comfortable two goals lead.

Meanwhile in the other game, Fiorentina still can’t get their consistent form going after failing to pick up a victory against Siena in the Tuscan derby, a result which will force Delio Rossi to improve the Viola’s performance in the new year.

In Sardinia, Ac Milan collected a pretty comfortable victory over Cagliari and it took them only four minutes to take the lead through Pisano’s own goal after the player tried to block Robinho’s cut back which was about to reach Antonio Nocerino. It wasn’t an easy game actually for the Rossoneri especially with the heavy rain and also bad pitch which isn’t actually suitable for the club’s passing game style, forcing them to get into more physical battle with the home team players.

However, even without hitting third gear, Milan managed to secure the three points in the second half after Ibrahimovic flicked passed Cagliari goal keeper shuts down the home team’s resistance. Tiredness were visible on the Rossoneri player’s performance but they will get their needed rest with the current break before starting the season again in January.

Meanwhile, the Tuscan Derby ended in disappointment as both Fiorentina and Siena can’t seem to find the back of the net despite both teams actually have several goal scoring chances both in the first half and also second period. However, poor finishing from both teams pretty much forced them to settle for just a point in the last match before the temporary Christmas break, obviously not a pretty gift for the fans who were expecting something more before the end of year.

There will still several more matches on Wednesday, which could decide the league positions especially at the top before the new year. Milan are expecting that the outcome from Udinese-Juventus match won’t change their current position in the table as leading the Serie A before the break could give a sense of satisfaction for the Rossoneri players.

photo credit: bhhardinge

As Roma still failed to register their first victory in Serie A as on midweek, the capital side was held into a 1-1 draw by their visitor, Siena, despite playing at Olympico.

Although it’s still in an early part of the season, Roma’s coach, Luis Enrique admitted that he is feeling worried about the current condition as the ex-Barcelona B’s tactician bemoans that his players are lacking of confidence which simply making things much more difficult on the pitch.

Enrique revealed his fear that his players confidence will get lower every time they failed to pick up the victory they’ve been looking for especially after witnessing the team’s latest match against Siena where the Giallorossi actually managed to take the lead but can’t maintain it in the end. Pablo Osvaldo’s goal in the 25th minute of the first period was canceled out by Roberto Vitiello couple of minutes before the match ended, but not only the score line that ignites Roma’s coach concern, as the lack of attacking intention from his team is simply what needs to be fixed.

Moreover, the poor performance from Roma in the second half, despite already taking the lead obviously what gave Enrique a big reason to be concern as apart from the equalizing goal which happened in the last minute, Siena actually have more than enough chances to turn the score around. That kind of situation is what being described by Spaniard tactician as the lack of beliefs that’s haunting his players, causing them to be frightened in every matches, making every matches becomes extremely difficult regardless of the situations.

“I am worried by the entire situation, but above all the lack of self-belief in the players that can only increase as results don’t come. We were frightened and that is normal, because we still haven’t had our first win. This is a situation that has to be improved,” Enrique added. “I think the team did everything we expected, but we don’t risk going for goal. We cannot finish moves with as many players as I’d like.”

Roma can probably be a bit serene especially knowing that they’re not the only big teams that are having problems at the moment as the likes of Ac Milan and Inter Milan are also struggling to find a victory in this early part of the season. Albeit the two Milanese does have different issues that cause their current trouble, still Enrique might be able to use the condition as a motivational support for his men, so the capital club players won’t be suffering from a very low self esteem despite the fact results is still not on their hand.

photo credit: blog-idman-yurdu

Edinson Cavani scored a hat-trick as Napoli came from a goal down to defeat Serie A champions AC Milan 3-1 on Sunday.

Visitors Milan led early in the match at the Stadio San Paolo, following a goal in the 12th minute from former Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani.

Napoli wasted no time in levelling proceedings, with Uruguay international Cavani netting the equaliser from close range less than 60 seconds later.

The striker made it 2-1 on 36 minutes, receiving a Walter Gargano pass in a wide position before sending a curling effort beyond Christian Abbiati in the Milan goal.

Milan had chances to get back on level terms, with Aquilani denied twice just before half-time.

But Napoli made sure of the three points after the break, as Cavani completed his hat-trick with a vicious strike on 51 minutes.

While title-holders Milan are yet to register a victory from their first two matches, Napoli move joint top on six points, alongside Juventus, Udinese and Cagliari.

An Alessandro Matri goal in the 54th minute at the Stadio Artemio Franchi was enough to give Antonio Conte’s Juventus team a 1-0 victory over Siena.

Antonio Di Natale and Mauricio Isla both scored in the opening half-hour to secure a 2-0 win for Udinese at home to Fiorentina.

Atalanta continue to reduce a six-point deduction for match-fixing, registering a 1-0 victory over Palermo courtesy of a goal from Argentine striker German Denis. They remain bottom of the league table on negative two points, following a win and a draw in their opening two fixtures.

Goals either side of the break helped Lecce to a 2-0 away win over Bologna, with Guillermo Giacomazzi and Carlos Grossmuller on target for the visitors.

Maxi Lopez’s first-half injury-time penalty was all Catania needed to overcome Cesena 1-0.

Genoa came from behind to beat Lazio 2-1 in the Italian capital. Giuseppe Sculli had put the hosts ahead on 11 minutes, a lead they retained to the interval. But second-half goals from Rodrigo Palacio and Juraj Kucka ensured Genoa left the Stadio Olimpico with all three points.

A Sebastian Giovinco brace saw Parma defeat visitors Chievo 2-1 at the Stadio Ennio Tardini. Giovinco opened the scoring on 24 minutes, but the visitors looked to have escaped with a point when Alberto Paloschi equalised 10 minutes from time. But Giovinco struck once more, with the 90th-minute winner then overshadowed by his dismissal deep into second-half injury-time.

AC Milan extended their lead to six points in Serie A despite a 4-4 home draw with Udinese, though SSC Napoli will be hoping to close in on the Rossoneri when they host Juventus later.

Fans at San Siro were treated to an eight-goal thriller as Milan came from behind three times to force a 4-4 draw. Pato cancelled out Antonio Di Natale’s 35th-minute opener on the stroke of half-time only for Alexis Sánchez (53) and Di Natale (66) to put the visitors 3-1 up, but the hosts rallied through a Medhi Benatia own goal (78) and a second Pato strike (82). Germán Denis (89) then grabbed what looked to be the winner with a minute remaining, yet the league leaders salvaged a point via Zlatan Ibrahimović in added time.

It proved a crucial draw as second-placed Lazio lost 2-1 at home against lowly Lecce to slip further adrift of the summit. Fourth-placed Roma also tasted defeat, losing 2-1 at nine-man Sampdoria after losing Júlio Sérgio to a 55th-minute red card, though their hosts finished with nine men following the late dismissals of centre-backs Daniele Gastaldello and Stefano Lucchini.

Inter came from behind to triumph 2-1 at Catania and lift themselves to seventh, while an even more dramatic comeback ended with Fiorentina turning a 2-0 deficit at home to Brescia into a 3-2 win.

Elsewhere, there were victories for Bologna and Cagliari at Bari and Parma respectively, while Palermo and Genoa were held to 0-0 draws at Chievo and Cesena.

photo credit: Jan S0L0

In 1994 when Serie A moved to three points for a win, Inter have gained more points than any other team. The Nerazzurri earned a total of 1078 points in 568 matches, which averages just under two points per match (1.897).

The pace they set in the last six years with Mancini (in his first four years) and then with Mourinho is impressive— 496 points in 288 matches, with a 2.19 point average, higher than Manchester United’s in the Premier League (2.15).

Roma barely beat Milan for the second place, with 1002 points (an average of 1.8) only 23 points ahead of the Diavolo, conditioned—except for the ’99 title courtesy of Zaccheroni— by the poor results during Capello’s and Ancelotti’s leadership.

Lazio were fourth with 892 points. The Biancocelesti paid the price for their technical restructuring after the glorious Cragnotti era, who took them to the title in 1999-2000 and for being penalised in the 2005-2006 for their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal.

Milan and Roma are the only teams that have always been present since 1994 to 2010. That’s a reflection of the strength of Serie A.

Parma were fifth with 1.47, after having been at the top during the Tanzi era without winning the title, followed by a demotion to Serie B and a comeback with Ghirardi. Also great teams like Fiorentina, Napoli, Genoa and Sampdoria have known—in some cases for a long time—the punishment of Serie B, in particular Torino. Other squads like Guidolin’s Vicenza at the end of the ’90s and Cosmi’s Perugia at the beginning of the millennium have also had their brief glory times. We couldn’t forget the miracle of Campedelli’s Chievo Verona and that of the current Juventus manager Delneri, that ended in the Champions League in 2005-06.

The one big name obviously missing from the list is Juventus. Relegated to Serie B in 2006-07 with a 30-point penalty, then reduced to 17, for their involvement in Calciopoli, the Bianconeri earned 984 points in 568 matches, an average that is close to Inter’s. Juventus’s average would be even more impressive (reaching an average of 2 points) if you were to count the 91 points earned in the 2005-06 season when Juventus were sent to the bottom of the standings.

Total Points 1994-2009

1. Inter Milan – 1078 points
2. Roma – 1002 points
3. AC Milan – 979 points
4. Lazio – 892 points
5. Parma – 834 points

photo credit: alemaxale

Nickname(s): The Black-Whites

All-Time Ranking: 43rd

2007/2008 Finish: 13th

2008/2009 Position (as of 04/07): 15th

Coach: Marco Giampaolo

Key Players: Gianluca Curci, Massimo Maccarone, Daniele Portanova

History:

Siena was founded in 1904, but it would take 100 years for it to make any sort of impact on Italian soccer. Even then, it would just struggle for survival.  Siena’s overall ranking of 43rd in Serie A history is sort of misleading though, as they have recently been a decent side. Why are they the worst all-time team currently playing in Serie A then?

Well, Siena never reached Serie A until 2003, but they have managed to stay afloat in the top flight ever since and even finished 13th last year. But, they have seemingly backtracked this season and lost nearly half their games. Although they are not perilously close to the drop zone, they still need to get some points to stay among Italy‘s best.

American Sports Doppleganger:

Siena is the classic perpetual loser who has only recently started to improve their play enough to compete with more talented, well-established sides. Thus, I think they should be compared to the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. Neither Siena nor the Cavs have won any titles yet, but they both have recently shrugged off their history of pathetic play.