Serie A Roundup – Week 26

Week 26 of Calcio Italiano produced some exciting football including the league leaders fighting back from 2 goals down. 

Inter Milan trailed Roma 2-0 into the 2nd half, then a back & forth affair ensued eventually ending with Mario Balotelli getting a double and Hernan Crespo heading in the equalizer in the 79th minute.  Crespo’s goal allowed Inter to salvage a point and keep Juventus 7 points behind.

La Vecchia Signora did gain ground on Inter with their fortunate 1-0 win over Napoli.  Claudio Marchisio scored before half-time as Napoli failed to muster an equalizer.  Diego Maradona’s old side continues to slide as rumors of locker room division continue to plague the team.  Napoli are winless in their last 8 games.

The most impressive performance came from Catania in a battle of Sicilian sides.  Catania dominated Palermo in embarassing them 4-0 at Palermo’s enzo Barbera stadium.  Catania had the match wrapped by half-time with 1st half goals by Pablo Ledesma, Takayuki Morimoto, and Giuseppe Mascara. 

Here are the results & standings from Week 26:

Saturday, February 28th

Lazio 2 – 0 Bologna
LAZ: Zárate (35′ & 81′)

Juventus 1 – 0 Napoli
JUV: Marchisio (44′)

Sunday, March 1st

Atalanta 0 – 2 Chievo
CHI: Langella (78′) & Pellissier (89′)

Cagliari 0 – 0 Torino

Palermo 0 – 4 Catania
CAT: Ledesma (14′), Morimoto (37′), Mascara (44′), Paolucci (66′)

Reggina 1 – 1 Fiorentina
REG: Sestu (21′)
FIO: Bonazzoli (23′)

Sampdoria 2 – 1 Milan
SAM: Cassano (33′), Pazzini (51′)
MIL: Pato (80′)

Siena 0 – 0 Genoa

Udinese 2 – 0 Lecce
UDI: D’Agostino (74′) & Pasquale (90’+4′)

Inter 3 – 3 Roma
INT: Balotelli (50′ & 63′) & Crespo (79′)
ROM: De Rossi (22′), Riise (29′), Brighi (57′)

STANDINGS: