Inter suffered a huge 0-3 loss to Bologna at the Giuseppe Meazza on Friday as Bologna’s top goal scorer Marco Di Vaio scored a brace increasing his tally this season to eight goals and two assists, 47.6% of Bologna’s goals this campaign, then substitute Robert Acquafresca scored his fourth goal of the season which made this the first time Bologna have scored three goals in an away game.
Inter have lost their last three Serie A games failing to score in any of them and haven’t managed a win in their last five games and the last time Inter failed to score in three consecutive games was back in 1999. On the other hand, the Rossoblu are the only team alongside Juventus that have not been beaten in 2012.
After three consecutive draws in their head to head games Walter Mazzarri’s Napoli side inflicted Fiorentina’s worst home loss of the season as they scored three goals and conceded zero. Edison Cavani bagged a brace meaning he has 22 goals in all competitions this season, more than any other Serie A player. Meanwhile Ezequiel Lavezzi left his mark by scoring his fifth goal of the season. Napoli are now unbeaten in their last four games scoring five goals and conceding none.
Juventus got back to the winning ways after two goalless draws against Siena and Parma. After going behind to a goal scored by Catania’s Pablo Barrientos – with the assist coming from Marco Motta – Andrea Pirlo scored his first goal wearing the Juventus jersey, from a free-kick. In the second half it was Pirlo again whose free-kick laned on the head of Giorgio Chiellini, but thanks to an error from goalkeeper Tomás Kosicky.
However the goalkeeper made another terrible mistake by passing the ball directly to the feet of Pirlo, who came-up with another assist, this time for Fabio Quagliarella who scored his second goal of the season. Thus the Bianconeri defeated Catania for the first time at home since 1984, while all the former Juventus players for Catania on Saturday got booked with Marco Motta receiving his first red card of the season.
Roma dished out Roberto Donadoni’s his first loss since he was hired to coach Parma. The game ended 1-0 following a goal from Fabio Borini. The youngster has scored four goals in his last five appearances for Roma more than any other player. The Giallorossi are now unbeaten in their last seven games at the Stadio Olimpico, while Parma have only one win in their last nine away games.
After four consecutive home wins, Genoa hosted the Flying Donkeys at the Stadio Ferraris and were beaten by a solitary goal, which was scored by Cyril Théréau. In all the games when Chievo have scored this month, the French striker has always been on the score sheet. Genoa have now lost their last three Serie A games without scoring a goal and they now have the worst defensive record in Serie A.
At the Stadio Manuzzi AC Milan got their second win in a row after defeating Cesena 3-1. The first goal was scored by debutant midfielder Sulley Muntari, Urby Emanuelson scored his first goal of the season to put the Rossoneri two up, then in the second half Robinho got Milan their third goal, and his third goal in five days. In the 65th minute Daniel Pudil netted one for Cesena but it was not enough for the home side. Seventeen different players have scored for AC Milan this season, more than any other team in Serie A and Cesena are now without a win in their last four games.
Both Novara and Atalanta got their third consecutive clean sheets after a goalless draw between the two sides at the Stadio Piola. German Denis hasn’t scored a goal since the new year a stat made worse when he was facing the worst home defense in Serie A, Novara are still without any home win in 2012.
For the second time this week Udinese played without the services of their captain Antonio Di Natale and just like the game against PAOK in the Europa League their game against Cagliari ended in a goalless draw. The Isolani have failed to score in their last three away Serie A fixtures. However this was Udinese’s first clean sheet since the New Year, an obvious indicator of how the African Nations Cup affected the team. Cagliari are now unbeaten in their last four Serie A matches, while Udinese are still unable to score at home in Serie A games when Di Natale’s is not on the score sheet.
Lazio suffered a humiliating loss to Palermo at the Stadio Barbera, the game started with two stunning goals from Edgar Barreto and Massimo Donati, they were the first for both of them this season. Then a header from Matías Silvestre made it 3-0. The second half started off with a goal from Igor Budan, who has scored five and assisted two goals in his last six games for Palermo, and on the 51st minute, Fabrizio Miccoli who assisted the two previous goals left his mark on the score-line by scoring Palermo’s fifth goal.
Miccoli has been directly involved in at least one goal in his last five appearances for the Rosanero, now with eleven goals and assists Miccoli has been directly involved in 57.9% of his team’s goals. Kozak scored a late goal for Lazio who hadn’t conceded five goals in a Serie A game since their defeat to Juventus back in April 2008.
Lecce keep getting better under coach Sersi Cosmi as they got their biggest win of the season – a 4-1 win over Siena. The last time Lecce scored four goals or more was back in May 2005. The Salentini have an excellent recent record with only one loss in their last seven Serie A games and are unbeaten in their last four matches at home, while Siena are still without any wins away from the Stadio Franchi this season.
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