Luis Enrique is now dancing with the wolves as the Giallorossi crushed Cesena 5-1 at the Stadio Olimpico earning their biggest win of the season and handing Cesena their biggest defeat. Francesco Totti scored the first goal after 30 seconds which is the third fastest goal of the current campaign, then a few minutes later he scored his second goal of the match and his 211th goal in Serie A for Roma, more than any other player has scored with a single team beating Gunnar Nordahl’s record with AC Milan.
Fifty-one seconds later Fabio Borini scored a third goal for Roma, which is his second goal in two consecutive games, followin his goal in Coppa Italia in midweek. Cesena have lost their last three away games conceding 13 goals, while Roma are unbeaten in five consecutive games winning the last four of them.
Juventus got their 22nd win over Atalanta more than any other team in Serie A history, the Bianconeri have successfully kept their unbeaten record and have been crowned winter champions for the first time since 2006. While Atalanta received their third consecutive 2-0 loss, the Bianconeri still maintain the strongest defence in Serie A. For the first time this season German Denis hasn’t scored for three games in a row, but on the other hand Stephan Lichtsteiner got his second goal of the season both of which were magically assisted by Andrea Pirlo. Note that Juventus have scored 77% of their goals from open play more than any other Serie A team this season.
The teams with the worst ball possession (43.7%) managed their third consecutive goalless draw in their match, firstly Parma, who have gone six away games without a single win, scoring only two goals, but it’s good that they maintained a clean sheet as they hold the worst away defence in Serie A. Meanwhile while Bologna are unbeaten now in their last three home games but forward Gaston Ramirez has not scored or assisted in Bologna’s last four matches.
Udinese continued their unbeaten record at home with a win over Catania, scoring two goals and conceding one. Pablo Armero scored the first and assisted the second to Antonio Di Natale. It was Armero’s seventh assist of the season equaling Antonio Cassano’s record, while Di Natale has scored in every home game whenever the Zebrette have hit the back of the net. Since a number of Udinese players have joined their national teams for the African Nations Cup, they have not kept a single clean sheet.
Sersi Cosmi snatched Lecce’s second point this season at the Via del Mare stadium as Davide Di Michele scored an equalizer in the dying minutes of the game. Lecce are still without a single home win, while Chievo only have one away win this season, Alberto Paloschi scored a brace making him the Flying Donkeys’ top scorer this campaign.
A draw at the Artemio Franchi saw Napoli stumble once more as they now have only one win in their last six away games. Emanuele Calaiò left his mark in Partenopei’s net by scoring Siena’s goal, which means Calaiò has scored eight and assisted one this season for Siena which is 45% of their total goals. Goran Pandev came up with Napoli’s equalizer in the 86th minute to continue his good run of form which has seen him score three and assist one goal in Napoli’s last four games.
Maurizo Zamparini won’t be calling Devis Mangia back now as Bortolo Mutti got his first win as head coach of the Rosanero. Palermo exploded by scoring five goals against Genoa who managed to score three. Fabrizio Miccoli was involved in four of Palermo’s goals, scoring one and assisting three, while on the other hand, Rodrigo Palacio scored a brace for his team, though it was not enough for his Genoa side who have now conceded 14 goals in their last three away games. Miccoli has been directly involved in half of his team’s goals this season, scoring and assisting six goals, while Palacio has scored nine and assisted four goals which is 52% of all the Rossoblu’s goals, note that Genoa hold the worst away defence in Serie A now after Parma’s clean sheet.
For the second time a week AC Milan managed another win over Novara, in a match that was the strongest offense against the weakest defence in Serie A. Zlatan Ibrahimovic continued to shine as he scored a brace to take his tally to 13 goals in Milan’s last 12 games. Robinho also got on the scresheet after an eight match drought with his last goal coming against Catania back on November 6. Novara are now without a win in their last seven games and their top man Marco Rigoni has not scored in their last three games. Note that AC Milan are the team with the highest average ball possession of 60.8% this campaign.
Nothing really new at the Stadio Sant’Elia as the game between Cagliari and Fiorentina ended in a goalless draw, Cagliari are still with only one win in their last nine home games, while Fiorentina have only one away win in the whole season. The Isolani Cagliari remain the only team that has not been shown a red card in this season.
Finally, Lazio couldn’t stop Inter’s winning record, with the Nerazzurri now on a seven consecutive match winning streak, the best winning record this campaign, scoring sixteen goals and conceding only two. After having the best away record of the season Lazio now find themselves suffering after two losses in a row. You can see why the Nerazzurri have vastly improved upfront as in the last four games Giampaolo Pazzini scored three, Ricardo Alvarez scored one and assisted three and Diego Milito scored five and assisted one goal, note that with this win Inter are now unbeaten in their last 13 encounters with Lazio at the Giuseppe Meazza.
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