Unbelievable action in Italy’s Serie A! Juventus and Milan continue to tussle for the title with the Old Lady leading the pack now reduced to only one point with two league games remaining.
The Bianconeri welcomed Serse Cosmi’s Lecce to the Juventus Stadium. The Turin giants needed the three points to stay up on the chasing Rossoneri who were trailing by three. The Old Lady was motivated and imposed her style of play by keeping hold of possession and launching in shots, and it paid off. Claudio Marchisio scored his 9th goal of the season giving his side the lead in the 8th minute with a splendid header that went across the face of goal into the far bottom corner. The Bianconeri continued to pour on the pressure looking for the second goal with efforts from Fabio Quagliarella and Arturo Vidal. Nine minutes into the second half, Lecce defender Juan Cuadrado received a second yellow card for a rough tackle on Caceres and was expelled. Lecce went down to 10 men as Juventus continued to poor the pressure but kept missing numerous opportunities to score. However in the final 10 minutes of the game, Juve was punished as disaster struck when Lecce equalized with a bit of luck. Bianconeri and Italy veteran goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, controlled a back pass with a heavy touch which went into the path of Lecce forward Andrea Bertolacci who punished the Old Lady! It was an unthinkable ‘papera‘ (mishap) from arguably the world’s best ‘keeper. The fixture ended 1-1 leaving the Juve players with a bitter taste who remains unbeaten and in first with 78 points.
AC Milan humbled a daring Atalanta side at the San Siro. In the early stages of the match, Sulley Ali Muntari put his team in front as the Ghanian international sprung the offside trap to volley in a Kevin Prince Boateng cross low at the back post from six yards. Atalanta was far from done though as Milan`keeper Christian Abbiati made a miraculous save on a German Denis glancing header which Alessandro Nesta cleared from danger. In the 90th minute, Robinho finished off the Bergamo side with a precise header into the far bottom corner. Milan wins 2-0 and climbs to 77 points allowing Allegri’s side to close the gap to just a single point with 2 matches left! Spectacular finish to the Serie A season!
Week 37 sees Juventus away to Cagliari who will play in Trieste as the Stadio Sant’Elia is deemed unsafe while the Derby della Madonnina takes place at the San Siro between Inter and AC Milan. The Scudetto could be decided should the Old Lady win barring any result but a victory for the Diavoli. In case of a tie, the Bianconeri have their noses in front due to a better head-to-head record which in essence acts as another point.
The battle for third is heating up with Napoli, Inter, Lazio and Udinese fighting for the final Champions League spot as these four clubs were all sitting on 55 points. Edinson Cavani and Marek Hamsik put two past Palermo as the Azzurri defeat the Sicilian side 2-0 at the San Paolo. Inter slip up against Parma with playmaker Sebastian Giovinco, Fernando Marques, and ex-Inter player Johnathan Biabiany putting three past the Nerazzurri in a 3-1 upset. Lazio equalised late with a penalty in their fixture against Siena to salvage a point. Finally, Udinese defeated bottom-side Cesena 1-0. The race for third looks as follows: Napoli and Udinese are tied for third with 58 points; Lazio follows closely with 56; and, Inter sits in sixth with 55 points.
Fiorentina head coach, Delio Rossi, was fired following the Viola’s tie against Novara. Rossi was caught punching 20 year old Serbian Forward Adem Ljalic after he was substituted. Ljalic looked like he had a few words for his boss as he was walking into the dugout which was unaccepted by Rossi. Fiorentina has had a dismal season and this may very well damage the Florence-based club as they are only three points clear of the second tier drop zone.
At the bottom end of the table, Cesena and Novara will be relegated back to Serie B next season. Lecce could also be added as the Puglia side are 6 points out. Genoa currently occupies fourth last and is three points off Palermo. With two games remaining, Enrico Preziosi’s Grifone still have a chance of avoiding the drop.
Much is at risk in the final portion of the Serie A season. Will Juve regain composure and hold on to the lead or will Milan’s momentum overtake the Old Lady?
…and that is the last word.
