So far there have been three matches played this weekend, and all three of them have been pretty exciting. Genoa - Inter Milan ended in a 1-0 win for Inter, Roma - Lecce was exciting and finished 2-0 for Roma, and AC Milan - Juventus was the shock result, a 2-1 win for Juve.
Roma - Lecce
Roma - Lecce was an extremely enjoyable match. Both sides went out to score goals, and there were plenty of opportunities for everyone. Roma were more dangerous though, Vucinic was having the game of his life as he waltzed around players to create chances for himself and his teammates. Both sides had their crossbars hit after the first half, and although no goals were scored, it was a very entertaining match.
In the second half Roma finally found the back of Lecce's net with Burdisso heading in a cross by Riise. But neither side stopped there, and Vucinic finished off one of his many opportunities to give Roma a two goal lead. But in the build up of the goal, a very strange event happened which resulted in the expulsion of two players.
Lecce's Ruben Olivera tripped Totti who was running towards Lecce's goal, and the Roma captain got up and shoved the Uruguayan. The referee Gervasoni ran over right away to stop a potential fight, and he gave both players direct red cards. At first they were both incredulous, but Ruben Olivera walked off to the dressing room. Totti protested a little longer, and then when he realized that the referee wasn't going to let him continue to play, he ran over to where Olivera went to presumably pick a fight with the Lecce player. Totti was eventually dragged off the field by force.
The match ended 2-0 for Roma, with the giallorossi creating plenty of opportunities which they should've put away. But Lecce were very dangerous as well, and with a little more luck they might've managed to score a goal.
I think that a player like Totti, who earns millions a year should never act in such an immature and idiotic way, but what are your thoughts? I really want to hear what people have to say about this match, and this incident. So please comment below with your thoughts!
AC Milan - Juventus
AC Milan - Juventus was also an exciting match. There were plenty of players who were unable to play for both sides, and when Chiellini had to pull out during pre-match warm-up, it seemed like this would be AC Milan's perfect night. Delneri started with Bonucci and Legrottaglie in the middle of defense, with De Ceglie and Motta on the left and right of defence. In the middle Felipe Melo played alongside Aquilani with Martinez and Marchisio supporting the attacking duo of Quagliarella and Del Piero.
AC Milan on the other hand were missing Ronaldinho and Thiago Silva, so Allegri had Nesta partnered up with Papastathopoulos in the middle with Antonini and Bonera playing on the outside of the defence. In the midfield AC Milan played with Gattuso, Pirlo, and Kevin-Prince Boateng, and the attacking trident was Ibrahimovic and Pato with Robinho acting as a "trequartista".
The game was exciting right from the start, and Ibrahimovic slipped a sublime through pass for Pato, and then hit the top right corner of the woodwork with a precise shot. Juventus seemed scared and unable to create as AC Milan pressured from the start in search of a goal. But little by little the tables turned, and eventually Juventus were creating dangerous opportunities from counter-attacks. And the shock goal arrived in the 24th minute for the bianconeri, an unsavable header by Quagliarella which nestled beautifully into the top left-hand corner of Abbiati's goal.
After this, AC Milan were creating less and less, Ibrahimovic was isolated up top as Robinho could only conjure up useless tricks, and Pato run in a straight line. Bonera and De Ceglie crashed into each other, with the AC Milan defender getting the worse end, he was taken off right away, and De Ceglie was substituted as well after a few minutes of useless limping around on the field. The second goal arrived in the second half, it was a mistake by the AC Milan defence which let Sissoko slip right through them and one on one with Abbiati. But the Malian midfielder literally missed the ball when shooting (very comical), but he somehow managed to pass it back to Del Piero who thundered in a low shot.
Juventus were organized and compact, taking advantage of AC Milan's general disarray as the bianconeri created plenty of opportunities. But eventually AC Milan began to push forward by crossing in high balls for Ibrahimovic and the substitute Inzaghi to reach. The big Swede got on the end of one of them, and imitated Quagliarella's goal to bring the score to 2-1. But AC Milan weren't able to create much more, and Delneri's side held out to grab three vital points.
What are your thoughts on this match? Did anyone expect Juventus to win? Share your thoughts below by commenting!
6 comments… read them below or add one
Totti has always been as a hothead and somewhat immature as a player despite his amazing footballing talent.
The Juve-Milan game was excellent! Juve played very well with a team that had so many injuries.
I thought you were a little harsh on de Ceglie - he played pretty well until the injury. His cross to Quagliarella was really good.
Yes, I didn’t say much about De Ceglie actually. He did play a pretty good 35-ish minutes before he crashed into Bonera, and he did provide Quagliarella with that good cross. But I always feel like he isn’t realizing his full potential, what do you think?
As for Totti, he showed moments of brilliance with some great passing and movement. But I still don’t think that a player of his age, who is admired by thousands, if not millions of fans acts in this immature way.
Yes Totti’s behaviour is unacceptable, but he is treated like a god in Roma so he thinks he can get away with anything.
With De Ceglie, I think people forget that he started as an attacking winger/midfielder, and that he is a converted defender. I think he has improved rapidly considering that was not his original positiion. So I think he is doing what he can to realize his potential.
The Juventus-Milan game was great. Even missing several players and seeming like hte underdog Juventus played like champs. Congrats to Del Piero as well.
I watched the Roma game and the cameras caught the trip on Totti, but they never saw what happened after, but from what the commentators said a booking for each of them would have been correct. I am gutted that Totti may miss the derby now, but there were a lot of positives from the game especially Vucinic.
I really enjoyed the Milan - Juventus game as I didn’t expect Juve to come out with more than a point. Great way for Del Piero to break the club record with the winning goal.
If anyone’s surprised at Totti’s behavior at this point, well…
And I’m a huge admirer. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Francesco Totti is God.
But the game of the weekend was Milan-Juventus. What a fantastic match. Hard to believe, though, how Milan could have such a great opening 20 minutes & then fizzle. It must say something about Del Neri’s ability to adjust on the fly.
And you’d think after all this time & after having watched the man from afar for all these years that Del Neri would know to just start Del Piero in every game, no matter his age or lack of speed or whatever anyone else says about him. The man scores goals. Play him. Leave the trash (Iaquinta, Amauri) on the bench where they belong.
Turns out De Ceglie played on for a few minutes with a fractured kneecap. Ouch!!