Week 19: Penalties and Controversy

By: Martha | January 21st, 2008

Gila dorkitude In a match shrouded by thick fog and whole lot of controversy, Inter salvaged three points from Parma in order to stay seven clear of Roma, who beat Catania by a 2-0 scoreline that really flattered the Sicilian club. Juve, meanwhile, slipped for the second week in a row, totally dominating Sampdoria at home but finding themselves unable to break through. The scoreless draw means the Old Lady are now on 37 points, 12 behind Inter and five from Roma, and Claudio Ranieri has officially thrown in the towel on the Scudetto. They’re still comfortably in line for a Champions League qualifying spot, though, which is pretty good for a promotion side, even one of the non-traditional variety. Three points behind Juve, in the revolving fourth Champions League spot are Fiorentina, who beat Torino thanks to a pair of penalties, one of which was Bobo Vieri’s 200th Italian goal.

Milan, meanwhile, are quietly making their way up the table. After snatching three points from Udinese thanks to Alberto Gilardinho’s late equalizer (Pato didn’t score. He’s a failure.), they now stand ninth on 24 points, 10 behind Fiorentina with three games in hand. This is crunch time for Milan, as they travel to Atalanta on ~~Thursday~~ Wednesday to make up that abandoned match, and will have midweek league matches for the next few weeks in order to clear up the rest of the backlog — it’s going to be a huge test, both for the squad and for Carlo Ancelotti, and he tries to find a way to keep his team healthy and take maximum points. Three points behind Milan, by the way, are Livorno. It seemed impossible about two months ago that they’d even escape the drop zone, let alone reach the heady heights of midtable mediocrity, but such is the scope of the Giancarlo Camolese miracle that they’re taking points every week now, most recently a 1-0 win over Empoli.

Back down where Livorno used to be, life just keeps getting worse for Caglari. Still on 10 points, they were shut out yesterday by fellow strugglers Reggina, and are now six points adrift at the bottom of the table. Empoli are second-bottom on 16 points, with Reggina just above them, while Siena are free (albeit only on goal difference) from the drop zone for the first time in what must be months, thanks to their thrilling 3-2 win over Palermo (two more penalties in this match). Also on 17 points are Torino, a club in serious danger due to the combination of terrible injury problems and a sudden inability to score.

Full results, top of the table after the jump.

Fiorentina - Torino 2-1
Genoa - Atalanta 2-1
Inter - Parma 3-2 (Inter report | Parma report)
Juventus - Samp 0-0
Livorno - Empoli 1-0
Napoli - Lazio 2-2: This one sounded fantastic — end-to-end stuff and a fantastic performance from Old Man Ballotta, beaten only by two goals from Marek Hamsik include one deep in injury time, with Napoli down a man. God I wish Napoli would get their TV rights thing sorted out so people outside Naples can watch their damn matches.
Palermo - Siena 2-3 (Palermo report)
Reggina - Cagliari 2-0: I hope CagliariJeremy doesn’t kill himself.
Roma - Catania 2-0
Udinese - Milan 0-1

CLUB GP W L D PTS GD
Inter Milan 19 15 0 4 49 30
Roma 19 12 1 6 42 18
Juventus 19 10 2 7 37 20
Fiorentina 19 9 3 7 34 12
Udinese 19 9 5 5 32 1
Sampdoria 19 7 8 4 25 1
Genoa 19 6 6 7 25 -5
Palermo 19 6 6 7 25 -6