Serie A Round 23 Results: Four-star Catania run Genoa ragged, Cagliari halt Palermo's unbeaten run

With only five matches being played out this weekend due to yet more adverse weather on the peninsula, there was still no shortage in entertainment for Calcio purists

12-Feb-2012 10:27:52 PM

By Livio Caferoglu

More On :  Atalanta, Cagliari, Catania, Genoa, Inter, Lecce, Milan, Novara, Palermo, Udinese
Udinese 1-2 AC Milan
Cagliari 2-1 Palermo

Cagliari brought Palermo's recent good fortune to an end after holding on for a 2-1 victory to kick off the weekend's action in Italy.

The Sardinians opened the scoring on 56 minutes in deserved fashion, as Victor Ibarbo cut a square ball back to Mauricio Pinilla, who tapped in from point-blank range to put one over his parent club.

They then doubled their lead with nine minutes of time remaining, with Pinilla in the thick of things after Emiliano Viviano could only parry his free kick attempt to the feet of Daniele Dessena, who netted in the rebound.

And despite Abel Hernandez's best efforts to claw one back just two minutes later, after scoring from the penalty spot following Gabriele Perico's handball, Cagliari now climb to ninth, while Palermo remain in eighth.
Catania 4-0 Genoa


Catania picked up their first win of 2012 in prolific fashion after they demolished Genoa 4-0 at the Angelo Massimino on Sunday.

The hosts took the lead just seven minutes as Francesco Lodi capitalised on Valter Birsa's foul on Alejandro Gomez in the box to score the subsequent spotkick and further his reputation as a set-piece specialist.

A quick-fire double from Pablo Barrientos put the game out of Genoa's reach by 52 minutes, before Gonzalo Bergessio completed the rout with little over an hour played, after latching onto goalkeeper Tomas Kosicky's pinpoint long pass.

Catania now move up to 12th in the Serie A table, while Genoa find themselves in 10th and see their run of consecutive victories come to an impasse.
Atalanta 0-0 Lecce


Atalanta's goalscoring drought of late continued after they failed to convert their chances in a 0-0 draw against lowly Lecce on home soil.

The Bergamo outfit were the better side on the day, as shown by their 13 shots and 56% possession of the ball, but Julio Sergio was on hand to earn the Giallorossi a vital point in their quest for top-flight salvation.

Federico Peluso and Guido Marilungo came the closest for Atalanta, but their shots both came crashing off the woodwork, as Atalanta sit in 15th place at the end of the weekend, while Lecce stay 18th.
Inter 0-1 Novara



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