Inter Extend Their Lead!

February 8, 2010

Inter Milan increased their lead at the top of Serie A to ten points after they dismantled Cagliari with a 3-0 win at the San Siro while second-placed AC Milan stuttered to a 0-0 draw at Bologna. Juventus's problems also continued this past weekend as they were held to a 1-1 draw at lowly Livorno on Saturday.

Ahead of the Milan derby two weeks ago, the Serie A title race seemed to be alive and kicking, with Milan knowing a victory would have left them three points behind and with a game in hand.

However, things did not go as plan as they lost that match and have drawn their next two since, leaving the champions starting to fall out of sight.

Goals from Goran Pandev, Walter Samuel and Diego Milito earned Jose Mourinho's men the three points that give them a seemingly unassailable lead and a fairly comfy lead atop the Serie A.

Milan stumbled to a draw in Bologna as they failed to capitalise on their numerous chance in front of goal. Ronaldinho came closest to breaking the deadlock as he hit the bar with a sideways bicycle kick in the second half and in injury time the captain, Massimo Ambrosini, also hit the bar with a header.

In Juventus’s draw they finished the game with ten men after Felipe Melo was red carded. Antonio Filippini gave Livorno a first half lead with a header but Nicola Legrottaglie equalised just before the break.

The draw means Juventus have now won only three of their last 14 matches, losing nine of those, and have yet to win under new coach Alberto Zaccheroni, who took over from Ciro Ferrara two weeks ago. They also dropped to sixth following Palermo's 2-1 victory at home to Parma and now sit three points off a Champions League qualification place but having played a game more than Napoli.

There was trouble in the Udine game where four people were taken to hospital before kick-off due to crowd violence. The man of the match was undoubtedly Antonio Di Natale who scored a hat-trick in Udinese's 3-1 victory.

The biggest talking point of the game, however, was certainly Napoli's Cristian Maggio’s performance which began with a booking after Ghana's Kwadwo Asamoah in the box and although Morgan de Sanctis saved Di Natale's spot-kick, the Serie A top scorer volleyed home the rebound.

Maggio then managed to equalize for his side before being sent of just before the half time break. At the end of the first half, Fabio Quagliarella headed a cross against the bar and Maggio dived in the box after collecting the follow-up, promptly picking up his second booking. Napoli did try put up a fight with their ten men, but Di Natale broke Napoli hearts with two goals in injury time.

Edinson Cavani and Fabio Simplicio did the job for Palermo as they edged past a determined Parma side 2-1.

Atalanta garnered vital three points in their effort to survive the drop to Serie B as they defeated Bari 1-0 at home. The only goal of the match came eight minutes from time when Simone Tiribocchi hit the back of the net.

Genoa picked up an important victory at home as they won 1-0 against Chievo. Marco Rossi netted the ball for the Grifone three minutes after the hour-mark to keep alive their hopes of a Europa League spot.

Catania won the relegation six-pointer at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday afternoon as they edged past Lazio 1-0. Gaston Maxi Lopez scored the winner in the 63rd minute to keep alive the Sicilians' hopes of survival in the Italian top flight.

Sampdoria were looking for their third win in a row and went ahead just three minutes into the game when Daniele Gastaldello struck. Nicola Pozzi made it 2-0 to Sampdoria in the 77th minute but Siena pulled one back just five minutes later through Massimo Maccarone.

However, Samp held on for a remarkable 2-1 win that puts them back in the frame for a top four finish in the league.