Serie A Report

Juventus 2-0 Napoli

Caceres & Pogba send champions clear at Serie A summit

The Bianconeri struggled to break down a stubborn Partenopei side, but they secured three precious points in the closing stages thanks to two of their substitutes

Juventus moved three points clear of Napoli at the top of Serie A by striking late to claim a vital 2-0 victory over their Scudetto rivals.

The Bianconeri had the better of a disappointing encounter in terms of possession and territory, but they struggled to create any clear-cut chances and it was Napoli who came closest to opening the scoring during the first-half, with forward Edinson Cavani hitting the crossbar with a free kick.

However, the hosts eventually made the breakthrough with 10 minutes to go when Martin Caceres headed home an Andrea Pirlo corner just moments after being introduced from the bench. 

Fellow substitute Paul Pogba repeated the feat just moments later with a terrific volley to ensure that Napoli left Turin empty handed and give the his side the initiative in this season's title race.

Juventus began the game like they meant business, with Sebastian Giovinco testing Morgan De Sanctis with a low strike inside the opening 60 seconds.

However, the visitors were in no mood to be bullied. On the contrary, they seemed intent on roughing the Bianconeri up in the early stages, a tactic which resulted in the conceding of a succession of free kicks.

Indeed, after weathering what was a very early storm, Napoli settled and came agonisingly close to taking the lead midway through the first-half, when Cavani struck the top of the crossbar with a curling free kick from an acute angle wide on the left.

As it was, the two sides were still level at the interval, a well-struck drive from Claudio Marchisio, right on half-time, the only other effort of note in an ill-tempered, underwhelming and largely incident-free opening 45 minutes.

Juve continued to dominate possession in the second period but to little effect. However, Giovinco really should have ended the stalemate 10 minutes into the second-half when the ball dropped invitingly for him in the area, after he himself had miscued a low cross from Kwadwo Asamoah. However, after shifting it onto his right foot, the former Parma man fired wide.

For the most part, Juventus were still struggling to prise open the Napoli defence, but Pirlo did just that midway through the second-half with a sublime pass over the top. However, Alessandro Matri, just on as a replacement for the ineffective Fabio Quagliarella, failed dismally to control the ball and it bounced harmlessly into the grateful arms of De Sanctis.

Caceres, though, would not be so profligate when he was presented with the chance to be the hero, the versatile defender timing his arrival into the six-yard box to perfection before burying Pirlo's corner past a helpless De Sanctis.

Not to be outdone, Pogba, who had taken over in midfield from the subdued Arturo Vidal, made the points safe when he demonstrated wonderful technique in finding the bottom corner with a controlled volley from the edge of the area just three minutes later.

The result leaves Juventus three points clear at the top of Serie A and extends their unbeaten run to a staggering 47 games.

Lazio 3-2 AC Milan

Clinical Klose decides five-goal thriller

The Germany international's volley at the start of the second half ultimately proved decisive, in spite of a spirited late fightback from Massmiliano Allegri's men

Lazio heaped more misery on AC Milan by holding on to record a 3-2 victory over the struggling Rossoneri at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday night.

The visitors fell behind to a deflected effort from Hernanes midway through the first half before Antonio Candreva doubled the Biancocelesti's advantage with a stunning strike just before the interval.

Miroslav Klose made it 3-0 early in the second half and although Nigel de Jong and Stephan El Shaarawy dragged Milan back into the game after the introduction of the fit-again Alexandre Pato, last season's runners-up were unable to complete what would have been a remarkable comeback.

Even though the visitors had made their worst start to a Serie A campaign in 80 years, the under-pressure Massimiliano Allegri looked like he did not have a care in the world before kick-off. 

The Rossoneri coach was given very little cause for concern during an opening quarter in which Milan coped comfortably with what little Lazio had to offer going forward, while at the same time threatening sporadically themselves.

However, when it comes to struggling sides, anything that can go wrong, usually does go wrong, and so it was that the visitors fell behind 25 minutes in when Hernanes twisted and turned his way past Daniele Bonera before unleashing a speculative effort which struck the defender’s outstretched leg and looped up and over the stranded Marco Amelia.

Fortune frowned on Milan again just moments later when El Shaarawy, having latched onto a through-ball from Antonio Nocerino, fired the ball through the legs of Albano Bizzarri only to see Andre Dias seemingly come from nowhere to clear off the line.

They were hit with another devastating psychological blow just before the break when Candreva unleashed a long-range drive that seemed to swerve in several different directions on its way past an understandably bemused Amelia.

Despite the benefit of 15 minutes’ respite, Milan still appeared punch drunk at the start of the second half. It would be difficult to offer another credible explanation for the way in which they defended Lazio’s third goal, with right-back Ignazio Abate missing in action and a dazed and confused Daniele Bonera staggering about the box as Klose clinically volleyed home Candreva’s measured cross from the right wing.

That looked like the knockout blow but Milan kept swinging and their fighting spirit was rewarded with a goal from De Jong, who did well to get his toe on Urby Emanuelson’s low, in-swinging free kick.

Suddenly it was the hosts who looked fragile - both mentally and defensively - and Milan set up a fascinating finale when El Shaarawy cut in from the left with just over 10 minutes to go and curled the ball into the bottom corner.

Milan poured forward in search of an equaliser but to no avail, meaning they remain 12th in the standings. Lazio also stay where they are, but the third-placed Biancocelesti are now just one point behind second-placed Napoli.

Source: goal.com

Champions League matches

Real hit Zagreb for six

Real Madrid wrapped up top spot in Champions League Group D in emphatic fashion by thrashing Dinamo Zagreb 6-2.

The Spanish giants stormed into a 3-0 lead over Dinamo Zagreb inside nine minutes with goals from Karim Benzema, Jose Callejon and Gonzalo Higuain, and Mesut Ozil made it four before 20 minutes were up.

Callejon and Benzema struck again after the interval and Madrid could have had even more goals, while late strikes from Dinamo's Fatos Beqiraj and Ivan Tomecak gave a merely cosmetic effect to the scoreline.

The opener came after just 83 seconds as Benzema tucked away Ozil's cut-back to round off a flowing team move.

The France striker then laid the ball off for Callejon to rifle home the second from the edge of the box and there were still only nine minutes on the clock when Higuain netted a delicious third.

Racing into the right side of the penalty area, the Argentinian flummoxed defender Leandro Cufre with a sharp turn before producing a deft finish over wrong-footed keeper Ivan Kelava.

Higuain then fired Fabio Coentrao's cross over the bar before Luis Ibanez had shell-shocked Dinamo's first real effort, curling a free-kick over.

Benzema was off target from distance but Real's fourth was not long in coming, Ozil finishing calmly after Kelava parried Higuain's drive.

Kelava remained defiant in the face of the onslaught, saving with his feet to deny Coentrao and then tipping Benzema's shot over.

Dinamo sought to get themselves on the scoresheet as half-time approached but Jorge Sammir fired over after Benzema only half-cleared Mehmed Alispahic's corner and Ibanez then shot straight at keeper Antonio Adan.

But, after making all three substitutions at half-time, Madrid quickly extended their lead as Callejon latched onto Raphael Varane's long ball and was allowed to finish too easily inside the near post.

Kelava was fighting a lone battle at times and did well to tip efforts from Higuain and Callejon around the post in quick succession.

But he was left helpless when Benzema took Higuain's pass, waltzed through two weak challenges and found the bottom corner of the net.

Beqiraj had one effort blocked by Raul Albiol but was not to be denied, heading home Ibanez's cross for his side's first goal of the tournament - and the first conceded by Jose Mourinho's side.

Benzema hit the bar and drew another sharp save from Kelava as he chased his hat-trick, and substitute Hamit Altintop had a shot blocked, but it was Dinamo who had the final word as Tomecak turned in Milan Badelj's cross.

Source: ESPN

Napoli 2-1 Manchester City: Edinson Cavani hits double to leave visitors' Champions League hopes hanging by a thread

The Uruguayan striker struck in each half to take the visitors' destiny out of their hands, despite Mario Balotelli's ninth goal in 10 matches.

Napoli dealt Manchester City's hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League a severe blow by recording a 2-1 victory at San Paolo in an exciting, end-to-end Group A match.

Edinson Cavani was the home hero with goals in either half. He recorded the opener after 20 minutes from a corner, his flicked header poorly defended by Aleksandar Kolarov on the post, before Mario Balotelli struck back with a tap-in after the half-hour.

The winner came just after the break when the Uruguayan put away a sumptuous sidefooted finish from Andrea Dossena's low pass, to seal a result that sees Napoli leapfrog City in the standings, one point ahead of the Premier League leaders going into the final matchday.

The Citizens will now need to overturn Bayern Munich in their last group game and hope that bottom side Villarreal can upset the odds by recording its first points of the league phase.

City started the match in commanding form and came close when Mario Balotelli curved a shot wide from the edge of the area, but let its concentration slip a little after 10 minutes when Marek Hamsik was allowed space to meet a cross from the right – the visitors were lucky that the Slovak headed straight at Joe Hart.

The home side, buoyed by its first chance, then nearly carved out a beautiful goal. On a furiously fast counter-attack, Ezequiel Lavezzi steamed forward in from the left, played a glorious one-two with Cavani, before firing just wide.

Napoli completed their seizure of the initiative by notching the opener in slightly awkward style. After Hart touched a rasping 30-yard effort from Gokhan Inler over the bar, Cavani met the resulting corner just short of the near post with a flicked header, which then took touches off both the flailing Kolarov and Hart to bounce in.

City looked rattled as the Italians settled down, backed by a vociferous crowd, to defend deep and frustrate the Premier League leaders, but sitting back backfired when Salvatore Aronica fluffed a clearance, passing it straight to Silva in the box. The Spaniard’s shot was parried by Morgan De Sanctis but Balotelli was on hand to tap in the simplest of finishes on the rebound.

After the break, Napoli came out with a fire in its belly. Andrea Dossena slipped into space on the left, supplied by Lavezzi, and then cut a pass back into the area, where Cavani dispatched a cool sidefooted finish past the slow-to-react Hart to restore the hosts’ lead and renew Mancini’s headaches.

Napoli should have extended the lead when Christian Maggio hared down the right wing and delivered a probing cross to which Hart offered only a feeble punch, but Lavezzi was unlucky to slip at the crucial moment and could not capitalize on the mistake.

Lavezzi had another bite of the apple a minute later, Hamsik having found some space and attemped to release him. His marker, Vincent Kompany, slipped to allow the Argentine to race into the area, but Hart stood firm to block his strong shot and keep the visitors within reach.

With City scrambling, Cavani nearly turned provider for the killer goal when he produced a sublime cross-field pass from deep, even while being brought down by Kompany, to find Hamsik. The Slovak took advantage of a slight deflection off the defender to jink past and shoot low, but his effort came back off the post.

Immediately after, Balotelli finally broke Napoli’s defensive line to find himself one-on-one with De Sanctis, but the keeper reacted smartly to deflect his shot, to the striker’s clear frustration.

The home side then pelted back upfield with Maggio this time breaking into the box and bearing down on Hart, but the impressive keeper provided too big a barrier for the wing back to seal the win.

The game had become frantic, and City pushed forward again with the substitute Samir Nasri loosed in the inside-right channel gloriously by Silva. The Frenchman’s cross sat up invitingly for Balotelli but he headed over.

City threw everything it had at the Italians but there was no last-minute miracle and it now stares down the barrel of elimination.

source: goal.com