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Serie A Round 20 Results: Genoa stun Napoli, Roma flatter to deceive against lowly Bologna
An eventful weekend of Italian football saw the pressure ease on Bortolo Mutti after Palermo cruised to a comfortable win over Novara, while Atalanta edged out struggling Cesena
29 Jan 2012 17:14:00
By Livio Caferoglu
| Fiorentina 2-1 Siena |
 Fiorentina managed to end a run of three games without a win after putting city rivals Siena to the sword in a 2-1 victory at the Artemio Franchi on Sunday.
The Viola started positively, as Stevan Jovetic broke the deadlock inside just four minutes, after the Montenegrin forward beat his marker and unleashed a strike from the edge of the box past Gianluca Pegolo. They then doubled their lead just past the hour mark thanks to experienced defender Cesare Natali, who met Riccardo Montolivo's free kick with his head. However, there was to be late drama as Matija Nastasic's deliberate handball in the box allowed Emanuele Calaio to step up and net from the penalty spot for his eighth goal of the season. |
| Roma 1-1 Bologna |
 Roma missed the chance to move within two points of Inter in the Serie A table after only picking up a 1-1 draw with Bologna at the Olimpico.
However, it was Bologna who surprisingly took the initiative on 56 minutes through Marco Di Vaio, who connected with Jean-Francois Gillet's goal kick and struck the ball past Maarten Stekelenburg. Their lead was to be short-lived though, as Miralem Pjanic grabbed the equaliser six minutes later through a low free kick which arrowed into the bottom right corner, but it proved to be a crucial point for Bologna, who stay marginally afloat in 16th position. |
| Palermo 2-0 Novara |
| Igor Budan scored a brace to inspire Palermo to an important 2-0 win against Novara on Sunday to ease the pressure on under-fire coach Bortolo Mutti The Croat netted the first of his two goals on 41 minutes, after he successfully met Fabrizio Miccoli's cross, before he glanced the ball past Samir Ujkani. Budan proceeded to grab a second deep into the second half, in a virtual carbon copy of his first, with Miccoli once again the provider, as the Rosanero wrapped up all three points and move eighth. Novara, meanwhile, remain rooted to the bottom of the table. |
| Lecce 1-0 Inter |
| Chievo 0-3 Lazio |
| Genoa 3-2 Napoli |
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Genoa managed to survive a late scare to defy the odds against Napoli, in an gripping 3-2 victory against the Partenopei in Liguria on Sunday. Rodrigo Palacio was the star of the show after scoring a brace, the first of which came on 31 minutes with a powerful right-footed strike into the top corner, courtesy of a headed assist by Alberto Gilardino. Gilardino himself got on the scoresheet soon after to make it 2-0, after heading in fellow new signing Giuseppe Sculli's cross, and Palacio then extended the Grifoni's lead further after latching onto the former Fiorentina forward's through ball and finishing off the move with aplomb. However, Napoli managed to hit back through the ever-prolific Edinson Cavani, who nodded in Christian Maggio's right-wing cross, before Ezequiel Lavezzi struck a quick-fire second in the box. |
| Cesena 0-1 Atalanta |
| Atalanta distanced themselves from the relegation zone after earning a 1-0 win against Cesena in Emilia-Romagna on Sunday. The only goal of the match came from Seahorses defender Marco Rossi, albeit at the wrong end as he scored an own goal to hand all three points to the Bergamese outfit, who now move seven points clear of Lecce in the relegation zone. Cesena, however, remain in 19th place, and have now lost five of their last six matches. |
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