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Serie A Round 14 Results: Fiorentina inflicts second successive defeat on eight-man Roma
Top-flight football in Italy enjoys another plentiful weekend as Victor Ibarbo stars in an important win for Cagliari, while Marco Di Vaio is back with the goals.
By Livio Caferoglu
Serie A: Round 14 Results
Table/Fixtures
| Friday DECEMBER 2 |
Sunday DECEMBER 4 |
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| Genoa - AC Milan |
0-2 |
Catania - Cagliari |
0-1 |
| Saturday DECEMBER 3 | Juventus - Cesena | 2-0 |
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| Napoli - Lecce |
4-2 |
Fiorentina - Roma | 3-0 |
| Inter - Udinese | 0-1 | Chievo - Atalanta | 0-0 |
| Bologna - Siena | 1-0 | ||
| Parma - Palermo | 0-0 | ||
| Monday DECEMBER 5 |
KO | ||
| all kickoffs in ET | Lazio - Novara | 2:45 |
| Genoa |
0-2 |
AC Milan |
| Match Report | Player Ratings |
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| Napoli |
4-2 |
Lecce |
| Match Report |
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A brace from Edinson Cavani and goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Blerim Dzemaili ensured the Naples outfit ended its run of four league games without a win to temporarily move up to fifth in the table as the visiting side remains bottom after three defeats in a row. |
| Inter |
0-1 |
Udinese |
| Match Report | Player Ratings |
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| Catania |
0-1 |
Cagliari |
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A second half wonder goal from Victor Ibarbo saw Cagliari leapfrog Catania in the standings and return to Sardinia with a 1-0 scalp on Sunday. Despite the Sicilians retaining most of the possession throughout proceedings, they could not find a cutting edge against Davide Ballardini's resilient side, and Marco Biagianti's early injury compounded the misery. The visiting side got it just reward on 65 minutes as Ibarbo, arguably the most threatening player on the pitch, danced his way past Catania center backs Nicola Legrottaglie and Nicolas Spolli, before dribbling around Andujar to net the winner. Despite Vincenzo Montella's men throwing the kitchen sink at Cagliari in the latter stages, substitute Maxi Lopez saw his efforts to beat Agazzi prove futile, as the away side held on for the three points. |
| Juventus |
2-0 |
Cesena |
| Match Report | Player Ratings |
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| Fiorentina |
3-0 |
Roma |
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It was an afternoon to forget for the Giallorossi, as they also had to endure dismissals of key trio Juan, Fernando Gago and Bojan, but surprisingly the majority of the possession still belonged to them. The first Viola goal came through the penalty spot, as Juan brought down Stevan Jovetic as the last man to receive his marching orders just 17 minutes in. The Montenegrin promptly got up to strike the penalty past Maarten Stekelenburg and give his side the lead. The lead was subsequently doubled on the stroke of halftime, as Alessandro Gamberini climbed highest to nod in Riccardo Montolivo's corner, beating both Gabriel Heinze and the Dutchman between the sticks. Another red was on the horizon, as Fernando Gago collected a second yellow for a horribly mistimed tackle on Jovetic, and a third incredibly, as Bojan stopped Matija Nastasic's header on the line with both hands. Substitute Santiago Silva stepped up to slam the ball home from the penalty spot, as Fiorentina move up to 10th. Roma, meanwhile, stays in eighth but falls 12 points behind leader Juventus. |
| Chievo |
0-0 |
Atalanta |
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A bore draw was played out at the Bentegodi, as Chievo and Atalanta fired blanks in a match that saw just three shots on target throughout. The Flying Donkeys were marginally the better team, and coach Domenico Di Carlo will be glad to have seen his men recover some pride following its dismal showing against AC Milan in the previous week. Chievo threw on Cyril Thereau and Alberto Paloschi in an attempt to win the match late on, while the Bergamese outfit introduced Adriano Ferreira Pinto and Manolo Gabbiadini as Stefano Colantuono switched to a 4-3-3 formation, but a 0-0 draw was inevitable. |
| Bologna |
1-0 |
Siena |
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Bologna stays afloat in the Serie A table after managing to grab a crucial 1-0 victory over Siena in Emilia-Romagna on Sunday. Giuseppe Sannino's men will be deeply disappointed to return to Tuscany without anything to show for their efforts, as they controlled possession and had enough chances to snatch a point. However, the only goal of the game came on 28 minutes as Alessandro Diamanti superbly back heeled the ball into the path of captain Marco Di Vaio, who coolly poked the ball past Zeljko Brkic. Emanuele Calaio tried his best to salvage something for Siena in the second half, while Brkic even went up for a last minute corner, but the club had to settle for the loss which sees it drop to 15th, only four points clear of the relegation zone. |
| Parma |
0-0 |
Palermo |
| Nothing could separate these two teams at the Tardini, as Parma was forced to settle for a point in a goalless draw with Palermo on Sunday night in a match that was played in the fog. Devis Mangia will be relieved to have returned to the Sicilian capital with a point gained after enduring an onslaught for much of the encounter, but concerned nevertheless as the Rosanero's winless run away from home extends to seven months. Graziano Pelle and Sebastian Giovinco came close with first half strikes, but substitute goalkeeper Francesco Benussi was equal to their attempts. Federico Balzaretti hit back with a pair of long-range efforts of his own, but Antonio Mirante did well to quell the danger. Despite a short respite of Palermo possession in the second half, Parma increased the intensity levels once more as it began searching for the winner, with the attacking duo of Pelle and Giovinco trying once more and Francesco Valiani coming closest when he curled his effort onto the crossbar, but it wasn't to be as Palermo held out to stay sixth in Serie A. The Gialloblu, meanwhile, fall to 11th. |
| Lazio |
v |
Novara |
| Edy Reja's men will be looking to bounce back from last week's disappointing defeat to Catania with a win over Novara on Monday at 2:45 ET. |
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