Although not all of the Serie A matches have been played, I’ve still decided to write about the nine matches which were played. Tomorrow AC Milan will face Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo, and it’ll be interesting if they can take advantage of Inter Milan’s draw against Sampdoria. But first, here’s five things to note from this weekend’s Serie A action.
1. Inter Milan aren’t incisive
Inter Milan hosted Sampdoria at the San Siro, and while I predicted a 3-1 win for the nerazzurri, the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Altough Rafa Benitez’s team kept possession, and were able to pass the ball around well, they created few notable chances in the first half. And the more they passed around, the more I realized that they weren’t going to be able to win the match. Inter just ominously lurked around Sampdoria’s penalty area, but they didn’t create many dangerous moments, and they were eventually punished when Sampdoria scored to take the lead in the 62nd minute. Chivu got the ball stolen from him by Cassano, and then Guberti finished Cassano’s cross to beat Julio Cesar. Inter Milan finally grabbed a goal with Samuel Eto’o tapping in a cross, but they were unable to find a winner. Coutinho was their main source of inspiration and danger, and if Benitez doesn’t get the rest of the team shooting on net, then Inter could have some trouble next week against Genoa.
2. Even Krasic’s dive can’t help Juventus score
After Juventus played out a 0-0 draw against Bologna, it was the third match this season where the bianconeri haven’t scored. Although they have the best attack in the league with 16 goals scored so far, they haven’t spread them out over their matches very well. Against Bologna they created chances, the best one coming when Krasic’s blatant dive in the box was awarded with a penalty. Iaquinta stepped up to take it, and the ever-improving Viviano parried to make sure Bologna earned their point from this match. Krasic’s dive was atrocious, and a yellow card should’ve been given to the Serbian winger, it’s interesting seeing such a great player showing that he has a little bit of evil in him.
3. Lazio continue winning to go five points clear
Lazio won 2-1 against Cagliari this weekend, and this win is their fourth in a row, which is part of a streak of seven unbeaten games. And while I credit this success to Edy Reja’s fantastic coaching skills, I should also credit the team which is playing well. Floccari and Mauri scored the goals for Lazio, and those two players were fantastic throughout the match. Mauri provided the assist for Floccari, and it was Hernanes who provided Mauri the assist for &nbsp;his goal. Now the question must be asked: are Lazio title contenders? Share your thoughts below!
4. Chievo in fourth spot with win over Cesena
I was worried for Chievo when Mimmo Di Carlo left them to go coach Sampdoria, but Sergio Pioli has done a fantastic job with the club, taking them up to fourth place in the table. Chievo are just six points off of the table leaders Lazio after their 2-1 win over Cesena. Cesar scored first for Chievo, a wonderful running header into the top corner of Cesena’s goal, but the newly-promoted side equalized at halftime. An unlucky own goal from Guana, who had Jimenez’s shot flick off of his foot, and into the back of Chievo’s net for the equalizer. Chievo grabbed the winner in the final minutes of the match, a goalmouth scramble from a corner finished with Thereau slamming in the winner, which gives Chievo three important points.
5. Roma and Parma are doing very badly
Last season both Parma and Roma finished wonderfully, but it seems like a whole different story this season. Roma and Parma faced each other at the Stadio Ennio Tardini in Parma, and although there were plenty of chances to go around, neither side scored. Although you could say that a point for each side isn’t a bad result, both sides had a wealth of chances which should’ve been scored. For Parma Marques flipped the ball over the bar in front of an open net, and for Roma Julio Baptista had a chance with four teammates to pass to in front of goal, and he laid it off to nobody. Right now Roma is 14th with nine points, and Parma are 20th with only seven points. I expected better from both sides, we’re going to have to see whether these two teams will pick themselves up, or continue to sink. What are your thoughts? Share your comments below!

Five Things To Note From Serie A This Weekend; October 24 2010

Five Things To Note From Serie A This Weekend; October 24 2010 - World Soccer Talk

I was getting very excited about <a href="http://www.serieatalk.com/italy-to-face-serbia-at-home-in-important-qualifier/3227">the Italy – Serbia game</a> which was supposed to be played today, but to my (and probably many other people’s) disappointment, the match was cancelled. The game was cancelled because of crowd trouble, mainly from the Serbian fans’s end. The match’s kick-off was delayed by about 35 minutes, and the game was stopped after just six minutes of play.
This is a huge disappointment for me, especially because Serbia is probably the toughest opponent that Italy has to compete with in these Euro 2012 qualifiers. In a group with the Faroe Islands, Estonia, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, and Serbia, Italy was doing relatively well, and this match which was supposed to take place at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris was going to be an important game.
The main disruptions that the Serbian fans caused were basically throwing flares all over the place. Whether it be onto the playing field, towards Italian keeper Viviano, or in the Italian crowd it didn’t matter. The Serbian players even tried to calm down their fans, but they were unsuccessful, and therefore the Scottish referee Craig Thomson cancelled the match after about six minutes.
There were already some ideas of fan trouble when Serbia’s usual keeper Vladimir Stojkovic decided to not play because of abuse on the way to the stadium from his own fans. The cause of this abuse was domestic rivalry, and Stojkovic even went to the Italian dressing room to explain his withdrawal.
Prandelli was very disappointed with what happened, and he commented regarding the trouble.
<blockquote>“It’s a great disappointment, there’s great bitterness, the ground was full of children with so much enthusiasm.&nbsp;According to the Serbians we have spoken to, the aim of the Serbian fans was to stop the match,”</blockquote>
Now the big question arises, what will UEFA do about this cancelled match? Well, I read over UEFA’s rules regarding the European Championships and I found this regarding what to do in case of an abandoned match.
<blockquote>“If the match is abandoned before the end of normal time or during any extra time because the field is not fit for play or for other reasons, it must be replayed in full either the next day or on another date as agreed by the host association and the visiting association, subject to the approval of the UEFA administration. An agreement must be reached within two hours of the referee’s decision to cancel the match. In case of dispute, the UEFA administration fixes the date and kick-off time of the match. Its decision is final.”</blockquote>
So it seems like the match will be replayed on a certain date agreed by both associations along with UEFA’s approval, but there’s been rumblings that the match could be marked off as a 3-0 win to Italy. Here’s what the Italy soccer federation vice president Demetrio Albertini said regarding what will happen in the future.
<blockquote>“We will not ask for anything. It’s up to the UEFA delegate to talk with UEFA to decide what to do,”</blockquote>
So things are still up in the air regarding what will happen, I think that the match will just simply be replayed with no away fans allowed to attend. But UEFA could decide to give Italy the win, especially because it doesn’t seem like the Azzurri supporters caused any problems. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens, what are your thoughts regarding this cancelled match? Comment below!

Italy vs. Serbia Cancelled Due To Fan Trouble

Italy vs. Serbia Cancelled Due To Fan Trouble - World Soccer Talk

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Five Things To Note From Serie A This Weekend; October 24 2010

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Italy vs. Serbia Cancelled Due To Fan Trouble