Serie A matches March 17

Parma 0 - 2 AC Milan

Italy: Serie A leader AC Milan beats Parma

 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his fifth goal in three matches as Serie A leader AC Milan looked sharp in a 2-0 win over Parma on Saturday to warm up for its Champions League quarterfinal with Barcelona.

Ibrahimovic put Milan ahead in the 17th minute with a penalty at Parma's Tardini Stadium and Dutch midfielder Urby Emanuelson doubled the lead in the 55th after completing an end-to-end sequence.

Milan remained four points clear of Juventus, which routed 10-man Fiorentina 5-0 with goals from Mirko Vucinic, Arturo Vidal, Claudio Marchisio, Andrea Pirlo and Simone Padoin.

Parma remained in a tie for 16th with Cagliari, six points clear of the relegation zone, and Fiorentina is only one point above Parma.

In Friday's Champions League draw, Milan was paired with European champion Barcelona. The first leg will be in Milan on March 28, with the second leg in Spain on April 3.

Before then, Milan visits Juventus in the Italian Cup semifinals Tuesday, then could face another stiff test against Roma next weekend.

In Parma, Milan president and former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi made a rare appearance at an away match and he wasn't disappointed.

"When Berlusconi comes it's always a good sign," Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri said. "When he's here we want to do even better than we usually do."

After Parma threatened early with Sebastian Giovinco and Chilean midfielder Jaime Valdes, Parma defender Cristian Zaccardo was given a yellow card for a hand ball on a shot from Emanuelson.

Ibrahimovic coolly converted the spot kick for his league-leading 20th goal of the season, with five of those goals coming since the Sweden international returned from a three-match ban for slapping Napoli defender Salvatore Aronica in the face.

Milan had another chance in the 20th but Emanuelson somehow couldn't find the target from two meters (yards) following a rebound of a free kick from Ibrahimovic.

Milan defender Thiago Silva headed off the crossbar in the 42nd and Parma goalkeeper Antonio Mirante had to charge forward to disrupt Ibrahimovic seconds later.

Ibrahimovic had another chance blocked by Mirante in the 52nd and Emanuelson scored his second goal of the season three minutes later, dribbling by several defenders and Mirante before finding the empty net.

Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati preserved the shutout with a series of tough saves in the closing minutes.

Veteran Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso came on for the final minutes for his first action in six months, since being diagnosed with myasthenia, an autoimmune neuromuscular disease that affected his left eye.

In Florence, Juve's intentions were clear from the start when Vucinic hit the post in the sixth. The Montenegro striker then found the target in the 15th with a precise shot from within the penalty area.

Fiorentina was reduced to 10 men in the 20th when Alessio Cerci was sent off for kicking Paolo De Ceglie, after De Ceglie had taken a swipe at him.

In the 27th, Vidal took a pass from the in-form Vucinic and scored off his own rebound.

Vucinic also provided the pass for a header from Italy midfielder Marchisio that made it 3-0 in the 54th, and Pirlo scored with a sliding effort in the 67th.

Padoin added a close-range goal in the 72nd.

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Source: SI.com

Fiorentina 0 - 5 Juventus

Five-star Bianconeri thrash 10-man hosts to end run of four successive draws
A 21st minute red card to Cerci made it all too easy for the Turin outfit, who romped to a five-goal victory that moves them to within four points of Milan at the top of the table

 

Juventus dismantled Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi as a resounding 5-0 victory maintained their push for the Serie A title after putting an end to a sequence of four consecutive league draws.

Mirko Vucinic opened the scoring just after a quarter of an hour, but the real turning point in the match was the dismissal of Alessio Cerci, who saw red for a petulant kick on Martin Caceres after 21 minutes. 

The hosts never recovered from the numerical disadvantage, and further goals from Artuo Vidal, Claudio Marchisio, Andrea Pirlo and Simone Padoin rounded off the emphatic win for Antonio Conte's men, who close the gap at the top of the table on AC Milan to four points.

Juventus nearly stormed into the lead after only six minutes of play. Vucinic’s shot from the edge of the area rebounded off the base of the post, and Alessandro Matri's follow up was volleyed high and wide.

However, 10 minutes later, Vucinic would make no mistake as he fired the visitors into the lead. A brilliant short passing move found the Montenegrin in space at the top of the box, and his curled effort flew in with Artur Bouc rooted to the spot.

Juventus took full advantage of their numerical superiority from 21 minutes onwards following Cerci's dismissal as they doubled their lead just before the half-hour mark. Andrea Pirlo’s near post corner was held up fantastically by Vucinic, who set up Vidal for a strike on goal. The Chilean’s initial effort was saved, but he wasted little time in slotting the rebound home.

It was one way traffic thereafter, as Juve had little trouble in maintaining pressure in the attacking third. Fiorentina were perhaps relieved to see the half time whistle blow as they were struggling to keep the visitors at bay.

However, the Viola regrouped and renewed their focus after the break and controlled play at the start of the second half. Nevertheless, it was Juventus who went closest to scoring again in the 52nd minute when Matri teed up Vucinic for a strike from outside the box which flashed just wide.

Moments later, Juventus grabbed their third. Marchisio was both the architect and the finisher, spraying the ball wide to Vucinic, continuing his run into the box and heading home the Montenegrin’s cross from point blank range.

With an hour gone, Andrea Lazzari sent a powerful shot that seemed to be destined for the back of the net, but a fingertip stop from Gianluigi Buffon diverted the shot onto the post.

Juventus added another goal not long after when a sumptuous through-ball by Vucinic was tracked by Pirlo, who dinked his shot impudently over Boruc and into the back of the net.

Fiorentina were floored after the fourth goal, and found themselves further behind in the 72nd minute. Pirlo’s long range effort took a deflection right into the path of substitute Padoin, who, with his first touch of the match, side-footed home with aplomb.

The remainder of the contest was played out by the visitors with consummate ease, never looking troubled as they closed the match at their own pace.

The result sees Juventus reduce the deficit on Milan at the top of the table to four points with 10 games remaining. Fiorentina meanwhile sink to 16th place, seven points above the relegation zone.

Source: goal.com

Serie A matches 11 & 12 february

Inter 0-1 Novara

Caracciolo stunner deals massive blow to Nerazzurri's Champions League hopes

The big striker hit the only goal of the game 11 minutes into the second half, and even Ivan Radovanovic's sending-off wasn't enough to help the Milanese giants back into the game

Inter's chances of qualifying for the Champions League were dealt a huge blow on Sunday as Novara shocked San Siro with a 1-0 victory despite finishing the game with just 10 men.

Former Palermo, Brescia and Genoa striker Andrea Caracciolo struck a wonderful left-footed effort in the 56th minute to give Emiliano Mondonico’s men a shock lead, and they were able to hold on to claim the three points despite the sending-off of Ivan Radovanovic 10 minutes from time.

Inter enjoyed the best of the opening exhanges, and a magnificent early move involving four players nearly resulted in a goal for the returning Wesley Sneijder, but Samir Ujkani got down to hold his side-footed effort.

Novara were dealt the early blow of losing Hernan Paolo Dellafiore inside 15 minutes, with Michel Morganella replacing him in the already overworked visitors’ back line.

The lively Sneijder continued to ask questions of the Azzurri defence, and when he made progress down the left his cross into the middle just beat the advancing Diego Milito in the centre and flashed wide of the far post.

The Nerazzurri then appeared to have won a penalty when Santiago Garcia went right through Andrea Poli as the ex-Sampdoria man shaped up to shoot, but referee Carmine Russo somehow waved play on.

Claudio Ranieri made a change at half time, bringing on Giampaolo Pazzini for Ricardo Alvarez to give them added threat in front of goal, but in the early moments of the second half the home side could do little more to break down Mondonico’s side than they had managed before the break.

Milito got away in the left channel, but when he looked to cut inside to get a shot in he was foiled by Ujkani.

Moments later Lucio slid in to meet a right-wing cross from Sneijder, but it was cleared and Novara broke with a vengeance, freeing Caracciolo 20 yards from goal. The big striker cut in onto his left foot and unleashed a beautiful curling effort past Julio Cesar to stun the San Siro crowd.

Ranieri responded by replacing Poli and Cristian Chivu with Diego Forlan and Yuto Nagatomo as his side chased a vital equaliser, but when Sneijder got into a good position to cross he instead shot into the side netting at the near post.

As Inter got more desperate Novara’s defence seemed to become more stubborn, and Forlan could only find the Curva Nord when cutting onto his left when in a similar position to that from which Caracciolo had scored.

However, the Piedmont side were left hanging on with 10 men when Radovanovic was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away after Morganella had brought down Nagatomo just outside the Novara area.

Inter almost grabbed an equaliser three minutes from time when Sneijder unleashed a right-footed shot, but the Dutchman's effort bounced back off the bar, and Lucio couldn't turn home the rebound.

Ujkani then made a miraculous late save from Pazzini to ensure that Novara held on for the surprise victory.

The result leaves Inter six points off the Champions League pace in fifth position, while Novara could celebrate doing the double over their esteemed rivals, moving up to 16 points but remaining four short of Siena, who occupy the all-important 17th spot.

Udinese 1-2 AC Milan

Maxi Lopez and El Shaarawy seal magnificent comeback win as champions go top of Serie A

In a vastly improved second-half performance, two goals ensured that the Rossoneri ended their poor form of late to replace Juventus at the summit of the league

AC Milan came from behind to beat Udinese 2-1 at the Stadio Friuli to take a valuable three points which take them to the top of Serie A.

The Zebrette started well and took a first-half lead through Antonio Di Natale. However, a vastly improved second-half display saw the Rossoneri come back from the dead through late strikes from Maxi Lopez and Stephan El Shaarawy.

Udinese sat fairly deep from the off as they looked to catch Milan on the break, and Mauricio Isla saw his ambitious effort fly narrowly over the bar after just 15 minutes.

In the 19th minute Di Natale picked up the ball in the middle of the Milan half and played a give-and-go with Gelson Fernandes. It cut straight through the heart of Milan’s defence and the prolific striker’s effort deflected off of Thiago Silva and looped over Marco Amelia and into the net.

With Milan being overwhelmed in the midfield, the Zebrette missed a chance to enhance their lead with 10 minutes of the first half remaining. Isla sent in a lovely ball from the left and a confident Di Natale attempted to shoot first time but snatched at it, sending it back across goal and wide.

With Zlatan Ibrahimovic absent due to suspension, the Milan attack lacked a focal point with Robinho and El Shaarawy up front. The Italian striker almost pounced on some lax defending in stoppage time but fired over the bar from close range.

The Rossoneri emerged a different side for the second half, but for all their improved creativity and motivation the equaliser remained elusive. Ignazio Abate and Clarence Seedorf both put in some great deliveries but there was no Milan player to add the finishing touch.

Pablo Armero was having a storming game and should have put Udinese two goals up as they worked their way back into the game. Di Natale’s through ball put the Colombian through one-on-one but Djamel Mesbah showed a great turn of pace to recover and steal the ball off his toe.

After substitute Maxi Lopez threw himself to the ground at the edge of the box, Udinese countered. Armero passed to Maurizio Domizzi who stabbed a tame effort at goal which Amelia turned behind. From the resultant corner Danilo forced the keeper into a great save.

The home side were made to rue their missed chances moments later when Samir Handanovic spilled El Shaarawy’s shot into the path of Maxi Lopez, who slotted into the open net.

Two minutes later El Shaarawy and Robinho were both denied after a defensive mix-up almost handed Milan the lead.

The Rossoneri completed their comeback with five minutes of normal time remaining when Maxi Lopez centred the ball from the right flank and El Shaarawy fired emphatically in at the near post.

The win means that Milan overtake Juventus and sit on top of the league, with the Old Lady out of action this weekend due to the snow-enforced postponement of their trip to Bologna. Udinese remain fourth but could see Inter close the gap between the two sides to just two points tomorrow when they host Novara.

Source: goal.com

The match Bologna vs Juventus is posponed because of weather conditions!