With just five games remaining, and only four points separating three of Italy’s top clubs, round 34 of Serie A action promised to produce some intriguing calcio this weekend. The action started early, with Inter facing Juventus at the San Siro in the Derby D’Italia on Friday.
Going into the match, Jose Mourinho’s Inter had the opportunity to gain a temporary two point edge on leaders Roma, but it was going to be no easy task against a Juventus side that had been playing better of late after a very disappointing season. The match remained tight early until towering Juve midfielder Mohamed Sissoko foolishly picked up his second yellow card in only the 37th minute, with a cheap foul against the Inter left back and ageless Argentine wonder Javier Zanetti.
Down to ten men, Juve fought off wave after wave of Inter attack, no doubt bolstered by the return of their leader, keeper Gianluigi Buffon. It took a moment of sheer brilliance by Inter’s Maicon to change all that. In the 75th minute, Maicon controlled the ball outside the area, and proceeded to juggle the ball over and around Amauri before smashing a volley into the far corner, in an effort that could only come from the world’s finest right back.
From then on, the result was a foregone conclusion, as Inter striker Samuel Eto’o put the game away with a finish off a low cross in stoppage time. The win put Inter six points ahead of rivals AC Milan and two ahead of AS Roma heading into the Sunday matches.
Sunday afternoon saw contenders AC Milan travel to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa to face a talented attacking side in Sampdoria. Milan started the game brightly, with the help of Clarence Seedorf, getting the start ahead of Andrea Pirlo, due to his yellow card suspension. Seedorf's inspired play soon paid off, with Milan’s in-form striker Marco Borrielo smashing in a fierce header from the corner. However, with the backing of their home crowd, a Sampdoria side led by the always entertaining and controversial Antonio Cassano was able to create several good chances before the halftime interval.
The pressure on the Milan goal continued into the second half, until Milan defender Daniele Bonera committed what could only be described as a combination of an American football tackle and a European one, denying Cassano a clear goalscoring opportunity, which resulted in a penalty for Sampdoria and a sending off for Bonera in the 47th minute. Cassano coolly slotted the penalty home under the outstretched arms of Milan keeper Dida, knotting the game at 1. Despite their numerical advantage, Sampdoria were unable to take advantage for much of the second half against an old and tired Milan side, due mostly to the inspired play of the one and only gap-toothed wonder, Ronaldinho. Dinho moved more centrally once Milan were reduced to ten men, and the tactical change helped him to see more of the ball, however Milan could never quite find that final ball to regain the lead.
The game seemed about to fizzle out with a draw until Sampdoria poured on the pressure in the final five minutes. Samp striker Giampaolo Pazzini decided to emerge from his slumber and outleap Massimo Oddo for the game winning goal in stoppage time. If Milan’s Scudetto hopes were still alive, they surely drowned in Genoa with the Pazzini goal.
The final and most scintillating matchup of the weekend was reserved for Sunday evening with a derby match in the Eternal City. With a crowd of 45,000 on hand to witness the match between AS Roma and Lazio in their shared Stadio Olimpico, and the Scudetto in the balance, both teams understandably came out of the gates a bit cautious. As usual, there was a bit of violence, however this time it came on the pitch, due to an accidental boot to the nose of a Lazio defender Guglielmo Stendardo from Roma striker Luca Toni, resulting in a large amount of blood and possibly a broken nose. For most of the first half, Roma played terribly, seemingly content to dump the ball up to Toni, despite the fact that this resulted in their losing possession every time. They were finally punished by Lazio for their lazy play in the 14th minute as Captain Tommaso Rocchi made a smooth finish against the keeper off a pass that left Roma defender Nicolas Burdisso looking as if he had never defended an aerial through ball in his life.
By halftime, it was clear that changes needed to be made to the Roma squad, and Manager Claudio Ranieri was unafraid to do so, taking off not one but both of Roma’s leaders and star players, Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi. With Ranieri’s success this season however, perhaps if should have been no surprise that the move paid off with substitute Jeremy Menez being particularly effective throughout the second half. Yet as the half began, Roma remained asleep, conceding a penalty two minutes in after a brilliant run by Lazio winger Aleksander Kolarov. However, a poor penalty by Sergio Floccari was saved up the middle, giving Roma new life, which they turned into their own penalty chance just five minutes later. With Totti already substituted, it was unknown who would step up for Roma in such a crucial match. The answer was provided by leading scorer Mirko Vucinic, who coolly slotted the kick into the side netting. With the score even, the game began to be even more closely contested, until Roma drew a free kick just on the edge of the area in the 64th minute. In what has to go down as one of the worst walls of all time, Lazio midfielder Christian Brocchi ran out of the way just as Vucinic smashed the ball into his vacated space and past a helpless Lazio keeper Fernando Muslera. Neither team came particularly close to scoring the rest of the way, as Roma held on 2-1 with a finish that was notable only for the red card that Lazio winger Cristian Ledesma drew out of frustration at the referee in stoppage time.
As the Roma players and fans wildly celebrated to close the weekend of calcio in the Serie A, the top of the table remained essentially the same as it had at the start, with Inter one point behind Roma with only four games remaining. The only significant change came from Milan’s loss, which puts them seven points back, surely ending their admittedly scarce Scudetto chances and leaving their focus on keeping the leagues last allotted Champions League place. While Milan now look toward the summer and the work they desperately need to do in the transfer market, the race between Inter and Roma has only grown tighter, and will undoubtedly come down to moments of class and composure, as provided by Maicon and Vucinic this weekend.
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