Serie A
BLAME IT ON the weather. Juventus travelled to Napoli on Saturday ready to cement their place on top of Serie A.
Alas, the flash floods that had crippled Genoa the night before spread to Naples forcing the postponement of the league leaders’ match and Inter’s clash with Genoa the night before.
The timing was far from ideal for Juve given the form they were in but it was a break for Napoli who were coming off an epic clash with Bayern Munich in the Champions League midweek.
Both Udinese and Lazio made hay while the rain poured. They both won their home games to climb above Juve and share top spot. Lazio won 1-0 against Parma while Udinese edged past Siena 2-1.
AC Milan also leapfrogged Juve to go third after they cruised past Catania 4-0 at the San Siro. Zlatan Ibrahomovic managed a goal and has been in the news recently for the publication of his autobiography in which he describes Pep Guardiola’s methods towards him as thus: “I am a Ferrari, you are driving me like I am a Fiat.”
Pep might reply that Zlatan was the Fiat in Barca’s team of Ferraris.
The goal: Robinho is still around and he can still play.
YouTube credit: w77sh1
The headline: La Gazzetta are short and sweet here: “Mihajlovic sacked. Dello Rossi in Florence.” Sinsa Mihajlovic was unsurprisingly shown the door at Fiorentina yesterday after a spate of bad results. The loss to Cheivo over the weekend sealed his fate.
Bundesliga
Normal service was just about resumed for Bayern Munich as they beat Augsburg 2-1. The leaders had to adjust the side in the wake of Bastian Schweinstegier’s broken collarbone but they looked comfortable having taken a two-goal lead.
Mario Gomez scored again and continues to be one of those annoying strikers that only score goals. Franck Ribery hit the second but Augsburg got one back with a half an hour to go and Bayern had to hang on after Anatyoli Tymoshchuk was sent off.
Schalke drew 2-2 at Hanover while champions Borussia Dortmund destroyed Wolfsburg 5-1. The slick, free scoring outfit of last year are back and it is a welcome sight. Catch them the next time you can.
The goal: Dorge Kouemaha shows us how to hit a volley.
YouTube credit: LetsPlayPhillipHD
The headline: Our friends at Bild wonder if German coach Joachim Loew is going to pair Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose in their upcoming friendlies. They scream: “Gomez and Klose! Loew builds for a binge system?” They mean a binge of goals, one would assume.
Eredivise
Utrecht 6-4 Ajax. Not a typo friends but the most brilliant, bizarre game of the year with a scoreline that belongs back in the fifties -- if in the fifties they didn’t bother with goalkeepers.
It was 2-1 Utrecht after nineteen minutes and 3-2 Ajax at half-time. By the 53rd minute it was 5-3 Utrecht before the madness subsided and only two more goals were scored in the final 37 minutes.
There were other games played in Holland over the weekend. The top three of AZ Alkmaar, PSV and Twente all had comfortable wins and are starting to pull away from Ajax. The Amsterdam side has got the plucky entertainer tag sewn up though.
The goal: Kali scored the tenth and final goal of Utrecht’s now infamous win over Ajax. It’s a good goal, one that perfectly captures the tale of a match. Two mistakes and no goalie = fun.
YouTube credit: maikel4006
The headline: De Telegraaf have Theo Jansen of Ajax in optimistic form: “We have only played 12 games, if we win all of our games we can win the title.” Start small Theo, concede less than six.
Ligue 1
Lyon don’t do away days anymore. A 2-1 loss to Sochoux was their fourth consecutive away loss. They now stand a full seven points off leaders PSG.
The side from the capital could only manage a 1-1 draw away to Bordeaux. Marseille have reached the dizzy heights of eighth after a comfortable 2-0 win at home to Nice.
Montpellier couldn’t take advantage of PSG drawing as they stuttered to a 1-1 draw away to St Etienne. Lille continued this 1-1 trend at home to Evian. As you were at the top of the table.
The goal: This is Ligue 2 but let’s overlook that. Vahirua of Monaco controls, turns and hits the goal of the weekend.
YouTube credit: Rikkosole
The headline: L’Equipe think Marseille deserve some praise as they inch their way back up the table: “OM goes up the slope.” It’s a long way to the top.
