Juventus succesfully widen the point margin with one of their close title rival, Udinese, after beating Francesco Guidolin’s side 2-1, in the direct clash on Saturday evening, which saw the Turin giant gather a six points lead.

Antonio Conte’s team must be thanking their Italian international striker, Alessandro Matri, who bagged all of the “Old Lady” goals on the match, edging the game as the visitor only managed to pull one back from Antonio Floro Flores’ strike.

Playing in a heavy snow, Juventus didn’t stop their usual game plan in providing a high pressure to search for a first goal, which would give them comfort on the pitch. However, it wasn’t that easy in breaking down Guidolin’s boys, who despite losing several important players for the African Cup still manage to perform bravely against the yet to be beaten league leader.

After series of intense pressure, Juventus finally managed to brake the away team’s resistence as Matri pounced on Fabio Quagliarella blocked header, beating Samir Handanovic on Udinese’s goal without much trouble. The 1-0 scoreline closed the first period, forcing the visitor to change their game plan a bit in the second half by putting in Floro Flores as they were chasing the game and eying for the equalizer.

Guidolin’s offensive strategy worked out well early in the second period as it was the substitue forward, Flor Flores , who got the highly anticipated equalizer after recieving a fine pass from Mauricio Isla. The goal lifted Udinese’s confidence as they started to take the attacking inniative more than the home side, looking for the second goal that would give a rare victory against the current league leader.

However, it was Juventus instead who proved their worth once again after Matri managed to snooke his shot passed Handanovic for the second time in the match. The goal made things became difficult again for the visitor as they have to chase ball around since the Turin giant decided to keep hold of the ball longer, only making occasional attacking moves as Conte’s team doesn’t want to lose their lead again.

The Turin giant’s tactics worked out well as their opponent simply got tired out in the last few minutes since they don’t really have more quality substitutes players with their limited resources. Juventus extended their unbeaten record this season an obviously mantained their lead in the table for another Serie A week since whatever happens on Sunday, Juventus would still maintain at least a point lead from their closest rival.

Match Reports:
Juventus v Udinese 2-1
Goals: Matri 42, 62 (Juventus); Floro Flores 56 (Udinese)
Juventus: Buffon; Bonucci, Barzagli, Chiellini; Lichtsteiner (De Ceglie 82), Vidal, Pirlo, Giaccherini, Estigarribia (Pepe 64); Matri, Quagliarella (Marchisio 61)
Udinese: Handanovic; Ferronetti, Danilo, Domizzi (Battocchio 73); Basta, Isla (Pereyra 85), Fernandes, Armero, Pasquale; Abdi (Floro Flores 46), Di Natale

photo credit: _bianconero

Juventus managed to keep their place in the half way of the Serie A season after picking up a solid 2-0 victory over Atalanta with goals from Stephan Lichtsteiner and Emanuele Giaccherini.

This result puts the Turin giant one point above Ac Milan in the standing and maintain their excellent form in the halfway of the new season as the are still unbeaten so far, despite not leading by much points with the teams below them.

Meanwhile, Milan also kept their runners up place after bouncing back from the Derby defeat by beating Novara 3-0 with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s brace and also Robinho’s tap in from Stephan El Shaarawy’s low shot. An important result for the Rossoneri as not only they keeps up their pace with league leader, Juventus, but also maintaining their points gap with third place, Udinese, who also won on the weekend.

Playing at Friuli, Udinese edged passed Catania with goals from Pablo Armero and also Antonio Di Natale, while their visitor only managed to pull a goal back from Lodi’s late minute penalty kick. Despite winning, Francesco Guidolin’s team must not let their guard down as Inter Milan are starting to cause danger after Claudio Ranieri’s team successfully dethroned Lazio in fourth place.

Inter’s success in leapfrogging the capital team arrived after they beaten Lazio last Sunday in a very hard fought match, which once again forced the Nerazzurri picking up a rather “lucky” win as just like in the Derby, they were forced to defend for the most part of the match. Despite going down first through Tomasso Rochi’s goal, Diego Milito and Giampaolo Pazzini managed to overturn the scoreline with a little bit help from the Biancocelesti’s defends’ poor defending.

Complete Result of Serie A week 19:

Atalanta v Juventus 0-2; Roma v Cesena 5-1; Bologna v Parma 0-0; Novara v Milan 0-3; Cagliari v Fiorentina 0-0; Lecce v Chievo 2-2; Palermo v Genoa 5-3; Siena v Napoli 1-1; Udinese v Catania 2-1; Inter v Lazio 2-1

photo credit: _bianconero

Another changes happened in the Serie A table as Juventus moved up in the standing despite only picking up a point against Cagliari since their arch rival, Ac Milan, surprisingly beaten by Inter Milan at the Derby.

Meanwhile, Udinese held their ground after disappointingly beaten by Genoa, forcing them to stick at third place and must start worrying the resurgence of Inter and also Lazio, who are also winning this weekend.

Playing in front of their home crowd in Turin, Juventus looked to be on their way for another comfortably victory when Mirko Vucinic puts them ahead after only six minutes with an easy tap-in. However, things changed early in he second half as Andrea Cossu got the equalizing goal after capitalizing on the mistake made by Leonardo Bonucci, who gave the ball away to Cossu instead of clearing it properly.

Ac Milan suffered another disappointment in one of their big match clash this season, after Inter stole the match with a cheeky goal from Diego Milito, who once again pounced on a defensive error made by Ignazio Abate. The Italian international who has made the same error couple seasons ago, sloppily missed a clearance and let Milito runs into a bag of space before sliding his shot coolly passed Christian Abbiati in the second half.

The injury to Alberto Aquilani and also having Clarence Seedorf unfit pretty much caused Milan’s midfield creativity a lot as they were playing with too many box to box players, without having any quality passer on the pitch. The lack of that creative act made things easier for Inter, who defended very tight as they were simply eying to hit Milan only from counter attack, which worked out very well indeed.

Inter’s victory obviously boosted their morale as they go undefeated for six games now and looking lively to get their hand back into the Scudetto race, while for Milan, although it doesn’t cost them much, but they must improve their confidence again aside from getting their injured players back. A disappointing defeat also suffered by another top team, Udinese, who were gunned down by Genoa, despite taking the lead early through Damiano Ferronetti.

However, Genoa crawled back in the second half and bagged three goals from Granqvist, Jankovic and Palacio before Antonio Di Natale pulled a goal back and made the score line 3-2 for the home team. The result this weekend only changed Juventus’ position, who are back in the lead, while other post in the top five remain unchanged, as Inter are really looking to fly high again.

Serie A Week 18 Result (Until Sunday)

Catania v Roma (postponed due to heavy rain); Cesena v Novara 3-1; Chievo v Palermo 1-0; Fiorentina v Lecce 0-1; Genoa v Udinese 3-2; Juventus v Cagliari 1-1; Lazio v Atalanta 2-0; Parma v Siena 3-1; Milan v Inter 0-1; Napoli v Bologna (to be played on Monday)

photo credit: _bianconero

As Roma carried their fine form in the league to Copa Italia as the Giallorossi stunned Fiorentina 3-0 in Rome, repaying their defeat in the league not long ago from the same team.

Meanwhile, a surprise arrive at Friuli where home team Udinese, were beaten in front of their fans by Chievo Verona, giving the Flying Donkeys a passage to the quarter final against Siena.

Lamela Double Set Roma Flying

Despite winning with three goals margin, Roma didn’t actually face an easy battle against Fiorentina, especially in the first half, when the Viola puts Luis Enrique’s side under a lot of pressure at the back. The home team’s goalie, Marteen Stekelenburg, was forced to make several saves in that first period as Stevan Jovetic and Adan Llajic create several goal scoring chances, which could actually put Delio Rossi’s team in front just before the break.

However, things changed in the second half as the entrance of Simone Perotta apparently improved Roma’s performance which immediately shown with a goal from young Argentinian star, Eric Lamela. The starlet proved his quality in that match as he scored again not long after his first, putting his side two goals up and give a breathing space for Enrique’s side as Fiorentina started to fall apart, leading into the Giallorossi’s third goal, scored by substitute, Fabio Borrini.

Chievo Stunned Udinese at Friuli

Meanwhile, Udinese face a very rare home defeat this season as Chievo surprised Francesco Guidolin’s side, who are yet to be beaten when playing at Friuli this season. It took only eight minute for the away team to start their surprise as Paolo Sammarco puts the Flying Donkeys in the lead after capitalizing on the defensive mistake made by Joel Ekstrand.

Udinese, didn’t actually took things lightly as they pour forward a lot after conceding the early goal, creating several goal scoring chances, which didn’t managed to break Chievo’s defense until Antonio Di Natale strike his wonderful free kick six minutes before the final 90. Just as when the match looked to be heading for an extra time, the away team’s substitute forward, Cyril Thereau, stunned the crowed with his goal in injury time.

Match Reports:

Roma v Fiorentina 3-0

Goals: Lamela 53, 67, Borini 76 (Roma)

Roma:Stekelenburg; Cicinho (Jose Angel 68), Kjaer, Heinze, Taddei; Gago, Viviani (Perrotta 46), Greco; Lamela, Totti, Bojan (Borini 62)
Fiorentina:Neto; Natali, Camporese, Nastasic; Salifu, Pasqual (Vargas 68), Montolivo, Cassani, Behrami (Lazzari 79); Ljajic (Cerci 62), Jovetic

Udinese v Chievo 1-2

Goals: Di Natale 84 (Udinese); Samarco 8, Thereau 91 (Chievo)

Udinese: Handanovic; Ekstrand, Danilo, Ferronetti (Torje 75); Pereyra (Basta 46), Abdi, Sissoko, Fernandes, Pasquale; Fabbrini (Floro Flores 46); Di Natale
Chievo: Puggioni; Sardo, Morero, Acerbi, Drame; Vacek, Rigoni, Sammarco; Cruzado; Moscardelli (Thereau 68), Paloschi (Mandelli 73)

photo credit: prettyfriendship

The top three teams in Serie A, Ac Milan, Juventus and Udinese continue their excellent form in the new year as those three picked up victory against their opponents, keeping things tight at the top of Serie A table.

Just below the top three, the standings didn’t change a lot as well but Lazio’s fourth spot place in under huge pressure as Inter Milan, Napoli and Roma gaining points after picking another victories this weekend.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kevin Prince Boateng were the actors who gave Milan their two goals win in Bergamo, a very difficult place to pick up three points but the Rossoneri did their job pretty well especially their new center back duo, Philippe Mexes-Thiago Silva, who kept on showing great stuffs. However, Massimiliano Allegri’s side still can’t take their breath as Juventus also got all three points against Lecce as Alessandro Matri scored the only goal in the match, which once again saw Fabio Quagliarella, went off for another injury problem.

At Friuli, Udinese continue their excellent home record this season by thumping 10 men Cesena 4-1, with the double from Antonio Di Natale and goals from Kwando Asamoah and Dusan Basta. Inter also achieved a pretty similar outcome on their home match against Parma as Diego Milito bagged a brace, while Giampaolo Pazzini, Thiago Motta and Davide Faraoni all donated a goal which gave the Nerazzurri a 5-0 victory.

Inter’s triumph obviously set the upcoming Milan Derby alive as they’re set to play the Scudetto holder in their best form of the season, raising the possibility for a wonderful spectacle next weekend. Meanwhile, Lazio must start to have a bit concern about their performances as Edy Reja team were demolished 4-0 in the weekend by Siena, who got their three points with Mattia Destro’s double and Calaio’s penalty brace.

Napoli once again proved that their recent dip of form in the league is mainly cause by their Champions League commitment as this weekend Walter Mazzarri’s side, who doesn’t have any European schedule, successfully thumped Palermo 3-1. Goals from Goran Pandev, Edinson Cavani and Marek Hamsik, only got one reply from Fabrizio Miccolli, allowing the Partenopei to pick up their first win at Renzo Barbera in after three seasons.

As Roma also continue their recent good form after getting another victory in the weekend by beating Chievo 2-0 with goals from their talismanic captain, Francesco Totti. The former Italian international superstar scored both goals from the spot kick, as the veteran seems eager to repay his failure in scoring from penalty in Roma’s match against Juventus, not long ago.

Complete Serie A Week 17 Result:

Siena v Lazio 4-0; Inter v Parma 5-0; Atalanta v Ac Milan 0-2; Lecce v Juventus 0-1; Bologna v Catania 2-0; Cagliari v Genoa 3-0; Novara v Fiorentina 0-3; As Roma v Chievo 2-0; Udinese v Cesena 4-1; Palermo v Napoli 1-3

photo credit: Yme Bosma

Juventus still maintain their unbeaten record until the end of this year but failed to keep their two points lead over Ac Milan as the Bianconeri finishing 2011 joint top with the Rossoneri after Antonio Conte’s side only managed a draw against Udinese.

Despite failing to grab a victory, another draw is already an very good result for the Turin giant as aside from remain undefeated until the Christmas break, Juventus picked up another away points against one of the top teams.

Eying to get their place in the top of Serie A again from Milan, Juventus put out their best possible squad, as all of their regular first team starter are available bar Mirko Vucinic, who is still out injured. Udinese on the other hand were missing the likes of Andrea Coda, Emmanuel Badu and also Mehdi Benatia, but placed Antonio Di Natale once again in the starting line up after resting the veteran against Lazio.

Playing with a pretty similar formation both teams seems to have problems in breaking each other defenses especially since the two sides also played the same counter attacking setup style although Juve does puts pressure a bit higher on the pitch compared to their opponent. The experience of playing three days in a week apparently starts to trouble the Turin giant as they don’t really look as sharp as they used to be.

Several goal scoring chances did arrived for both teams but poor finishing and lack of sharpness in creating the attacking movement pretty much killed of those opportunities. Things didn’t improve in the second half as both teams seems to be lacking something up front, especially Udinese, who surprisingly couldn’t really work out their counter attack right, despite having several chances in doing so as Juventus looked tiring already in last 20 minutes.

In the end, no one really step up to the occasion, including Antonio Di Natale, who didn’t seem up for it despite already having a decent rest in Udinese’s previous match. Juventus would definitely took the result as being joint top in the league with Milan is already a massive achievement for the Turin giant, not to mention they’re still yet to be beaten before the Christmas break. However, they must be careful after the re-start as there have been several cases of teams dropping points after the break because losing form.

Match Reports:

Udinese v Juventus 0-0
Udinese: Handanovic; Ferronetti, Danilo, Domizzi; Basta, Isla, Pinzi, Asamoah, Armero; Abdi (Floro Flores 85); Di Natale
Juventus: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Lichtsteiner, Marchisio, Pirlo, Vidal, Estigarribia (De Ceglie 90); Pepe (Del Piero 80), Matri (Quagliarella 71)

photo credit: _bianconero

Juventus continue their reign in Serie A after picking up an important 2-0 victory over newly promoted side, Novara, with goals from Simone Pepe and also Fabio Quagliarela, who netted his first ever goal since December 2010.

The Turin giant’s success in leading the table on their own this weekend also happened due to Udinese’s failure in picking up three points against Lazio, forcing Francesco Guidolin’s team slipping into third position giving Ac Milan a spot at second place.

Playing in an important match against Lazio, Guidolin surprisingly rested their goal machine, Antonio Di Natale and went for Antonio Floro Flores’ partnership along with young Romanian, Gabriel Torje. The duet worked out pretty well in the first half as they took the lead through Floro Flores’ header, which came from Torje’s fine assist, but the domination swung the other way after the Biancocelesti equalized from Senad Lulic’s long range screamer.

Lazio played much better in the second half and took the lead through Miroslav Klose, forcing Guidolin to finally fielded Di Natale, which paid off as the veteran bomber provided an assist for Udinese’s Equalizer scored by Giampiero Pinzi. Meanwhile, in San Siro, goals from Antonio Nocerino and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s penalty kick were more than enough to put Milan tailing Juventus and still hoping to steal the table topper before the Christmas break.

Inter Milan also managed to keep their positiver run going after picking up another victory on the weekend, this time Andrea Rannochia, emerged as the Nerazzurri’s savior with a fine header that stole all three points from Cesena. A surprise occurred at San Paolo though, where home team, Napoli, were beaten by As Roma 3-1, luck apparently wasn’t on Walter Mazzarri’s side on that match as they only managed to score a goal through Marek Hamsik despite creating plenty wonderful chances.

However, Luis Enrique was obviously feeling ecstatic with the important victory and didn’t really have any problem in admitting the luck that his team had with goals from Aronica’s own goal, Pablo Osvaldo and a deflected Simplicio’s effort. The competition will continue this midweek and several changes could happened in the last game before the winter break, especially at the top since there will be a big match clash at the top between Juve against Udinese.

photo credit: _bianconero

Lazio and Udinese faces different challenges in their Europa League campaign as a very tough match awaits the Biancolesti with Atletico Madrid arrives as challenger while the Friulani picked up a lighter draw against PAOK Salonika.

The capital club will obviously give their best if they still want to continue their European journey as Atletico are a quality side despite can really be very inconsistent, as for Francesco Guidolin’s team, concentration must remain high although their opponent supposedly isn’t that strong on paper.

On paper, Lazio can simply match up Atletico’s squad but Edy Reja’s team focus in the competition remains the big question as they rarely played with their best line up in the group stage. The Spaniard themselves already had a taste of Italian football in their previous group matches as they were in the same group with Udinese, so Radamel Falcao and co obviously know what type of challenge they can expect against the Biancocelesti.

Meanwhile, Udinese must not take things too lightly against PAOK as the Greek outfit can always provide problem for Guidolin’s team, especially since the Friulani often played with their second string players in the competition. On paper, it’s a pretty good chance for the Bianconeri to advance into the next round and improve the European coefficient points for Italian teams, which pretty much becomes the mission of Serie A representatives in the competition.

Both Lazio and Udinese have fair chance in advancing to the next stage where difficult match ups have already awaits them as the capital club will meet either Braga or Besiktas if Reja’s team managed to overcome Atletico. As for Guidolin’s team, one of Az Alkmaar or Anderletch are set to be their next opponent should the Friulani excapes PAOK’s challenge in the last 32.

photo credit: Catatan Bola Photo Gallery

Not many surprises actually occurred on this weekend’s Serie A matches, but a shocking episode happened at Renato Dall’ Ara where Bologna successfully held the Scudetto holder, Ac Milan in a pretty controversial 2-2 draw, which kept the Rossoneri temporarily sitting in third place.

That result boosted Udinese back into the top spot but Juventus could still take the leadership again should they manage to beat As Roma at Olympico on Monday evening.

With Juventus playing a day after all of their competitors, it was actually the best chances for both Milan and Udinese to put heavy pressure on the Old Lady by grabbing three points and temporarily leading the table. However, only Francesco Guidolin’s site who managed to get maximum points after beating Chievo Verona 2-1 with goals from Antonio Di Natale and Dusan Basta, which can only be replied once by Alberto Paloschi.

The Rossoneri shot themselves on the foot with a rather scrappy performance especially at the back, resulting in the 2-2 result which filled with a bit cont roversy as there were some intriguing decisions made by the referee. Marco Di Vaio helped Bologna to take the lead in the 11th minute before Clarence Seedorf equalized five minutes later and it was the Dutchman who also caused some controversy before the break after seemingly handling the ball inside of the penalty area.

In the second half, it was Milan who earned a penalty after Zlatan Ibrahimovic was kicked inside the area, but there were also some questionable incidents prior to the successful spot kick that the Swede made himself. The home team equalized just a minute after Ibrahimovic’s goal after Alessandro Diamanti’s shot slipping through Marco Amelia’s palm, a blunder by the keeper which pretty much cost the Rossoneri all three points in that game.

In other matches, Inter Milan bounced back with a 2-0 victory over Fiorentina after Giampaolo Pazzini and Yuto Nagatomo finding the net against Dellio Rossi’s side at San Siro. Lazio also picked up an important three points after beating Lecce 3-2 away from home with a brace from Miroslav Klose and also a goal by Lorik Cana. However, Napoli continues their disappointing league form after only taking a point from Novara, thanks to Blerim Dzemaili equalizing strike in the second half.

Serie A Weekend (Saturday – Sunday )Results:

Atalanta v Catania 1-1; Bologna v Milan 2-2; Cagliari v Parma 0-0; Inter v Fiorentina 2-0; Lecce v Lazio 2-3; Novara v Napoli 1-1; Palermo v Cesena 0-1; Siena v Genoa 0-2; Udinese v Chievo 2-1; As Roma v Juventus (to be played on Monday)

photo credit: americanistadechiapas

Ac Milan only managed to stay at the top of Serie A for a while as in Sunday, Juventus regain the throne after picking up a 2-0 victory over their visitor Cesena, with goals from Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal’s dubious spot kick.

However, a much more interesting stuffs in Serie A last weekend happened in Florence where Fiorentina demolished As Roma, who in the end were playing only with eight men on the pitch.

After Udinese equaled Milan’s point on Saturday with a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan, the pressure was obviously on Juventus as they did face a tough battle against Cesena, which only ended when Marchisio broke through the opponent defense and scored his sixth goal of the season. Juve’s victory were sealed with a questionable penalty which was converted by Vidal, the victory gave an ecstatic feeling for Juve’s coach, Antonio Conte, who obviously starts to dream about Scudetto at the moment.

Meanwhile, after the defeat against Udinese which lead into into a scuffle between their two players, Eric Lamela and Pablo Osvaldo, more problems arrived for As Roma in their match against Fiorentina after having Juan, Fernando Gago along with Bojan Krkic sent off. Those red cards didn’t only forced the capital club to suffer a 3-0 defeat but it obviously bring problems for Luis Enrique, who will be facing Juventus without the luxury of having plenty choices especially for Roma’s back line.

Red card situation also received a head line a day earlier when Udinese steal all three points against the struggling giant, Inter Milan, as there were two sending offs happened on that match and one of them went for the Nerazzurri’s captain, Javier Zanetti. Zanetti’s marching order was interesting as it was a rare occasion for the veteran leader, who is usually known as a player that didn’t really received many reds during his footballing career with Inter.

Overall, the result in last weekend’s Serie A didn’t really changed anything much in the league as the top teams managed to collect victories which made no significant changes in the league table. However , there’s still one game left in Italy as Lazio set to face Novara in a match which is being used by the capital club to continue their hope in chasing the Serie A title this season.

Serie A results until Sunday:
Genoa v Ac Milan 0-2; Inter v Udinese 0-1; Napoli v Lecce 4-2; Chievo v Atalanta 0-0; Fiorentina v Roma 3-0; Juventus v Cesena 2-0; Bologna v Siena 1-0; Catania v Cagliari 0-1; Parma v Palermo 0-0

photo credit: mitsurinho