The Christmas break is over. This can only mean one thing: it’s now time to put down the panettone and get back to calcio! The Serie A season resumed this weekend – and no holiday hangovers here; there was no shortage of action!
Perhaps still recovering from jet-setting-induced jet lag, Milan and Juventus, the league’s joint leaders, both seemed to be struggling to get back into the swing of things with difficult wins against Atalanta and Lecce, respectively, on Sunday. While Alessandro Matri scored the only goal of the game to ensure victory for Juventus, Zlatan Ibrahimovic converted a penalty in the first half and set up the Rossoneri’s second goal for Kevin-Prince Boateng. Milan secured their spot at the top of the Serie A table, while Zlatan joined Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale and Atalanta’s German Denis as the Serie A’s capocannonieri with 12 goals apiece.
Not to be outdone, the ever-irrepressible Di Natale, who’s been the Serie A’s leading scorer for two seasons running, scored twice to help Udinese to a convincing 4-1 win over Cesena on Sunday. With this win, which saw them take the third spot from the top, Udinese not only rekindled their title hopes, but slide into the last remaining, highly-coveted spot allotted to Italian teams in Champions League qualification.
This weekend’s action also featured the Derby delle Due Sicilie, the biannual fixture between Napoli and Palermo. Fun fact: the name of the Derby is a reference to Italian history – it alludes to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, formed by the unification of the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples in 1816. In this year’s edition, Napoli triumphed 3-1 over a lackluster Palermo at the Stadio Renzo Barbera, with goals from Cavani, Pandev and Hamsik.
Elsewhere, Roma’s iconic captain, Francesco Totti, scored two penalties to get the Giallorossi a win over Chievo Verona at home. In true Totti style, he cheekily acknowledged his first two goals of the season with one of his signature t-shirts, this one which said “please excuse me for the delay.” Lazio’s unbeaten record was broken with a humiliating 4-0 loss at the hands of recently promoted Siena, while Inter continued their recent resurgence after a sputtering start to the season and began 2012 with a bang as they thoroughly thrashed Parma at the San Siro on Saturday, 5-0.
… what’s up next this week, after what went down this weekend? Coppa Italia action! Stay tuned!
Image via Zimbio
