Serie A Roundup, Jan. 31
Juventus's troubles continued with a 1-1 draw at home against Lazio
on Sunday in new coach Alberto Zaccheroni's first match in charge.
Alessandro Del Piero put Juventus in front with from the
penalty spot in the 70th minute following a dubious foul, but
Stefano Mauri equalized for Lazio eight minutes later.
It was Juve's fifth consecutive game without a victory,
including a 2-1 loss to Inter Milan on Thursday that eliminated the
Turin team from the Italian Cup.
On Friday, Zaccheroni was hired to replace Ciro Ferrara.
"Right now there's some confusion, but I think this team has
what it takes to win," Zaccheroni said.
Juve moved into a tie for fifth with Palermo with 34 points
each, 15 behind leader Inter.
Fans whistled Juve off the field and a small section of seats
at the Stadio Olimpico were set on fire.
Earlier, AS Roma extended its unbeaten run to 17 games with a
2-1 win over last-place Siena, moving into a tie for second with AC
Milan, which was held to a 1-1 draw at the San Siro by Livorno.
Stefano Okaka scored the winner with his heel in the 88th for
Roma, in what was likely his final game with the Giallorossi before
moving to Fulham on loan.
"I wanted to do well even though I'm leaving tonight," said
Okaka, who jumped over the advertising boards and ran toward Roma's
hard-core ultra fans to celebrate.
"I'll miss these fans," he added.
Simone Vergassola had equalized for Siena in the 41st after
John Arne Riise opened the scoring in the 29th with his second goal
in two games.
Massimo Ambrosini put Milan ahead in the 44th and Livorno
captain Cristiano Lucarelli equalized in the 53rd.
Inter Milan's game at Parma was postponed until Feb. 10 due
to snow covering the stands at the Tardini stadium.
Inter leads with 49 points and Roma and Milan are next with
41 points apiece.
Also Sunday, it was: Cagliari 2, Fiorentina 2; Catania 1,
Udinese 1; Chievo Verona 1, Bologna 1; and Sampdoria 2, Atalanta 0.
Zaccheroni didn't make many changes in Juve's lineup but the
squad appeared more energetic at the start, with Diego and Del
Piero combining to create three scoring chances in the opening 20
minutes.
Diego hit the post with a long shot in the 54th and Juve was
awarded a penalty in the 69th when Lazio defender Modibe Diakite
was whistled for taking down Del Piero from behind. The Juve
captain then calmly converted the spot kick.
Mauri equalized with a close-range volley following a pass
from Mauro Zarate, with goalkeeper Alex Manninger helpless.
Normal Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was suspended for the
game.
"We allowed them two or three chances at the most," Diego
said. "We did everything possible. But we've got to improve and
score, not just create."
Sampdoria got goals from Angelo Palombo and Giampaolo Pazzini
after learning that Antonio Cassano had rejected a loan offer from
Fiorentina, which was seeking another forward with Adrian Mutu
facing a possible ban after two positive doping tests were revealed
this week.
Stevan Jovetic scored the equalizer for Fiorentina against
10-man Cagliari, then ran to the Tuscan club's bench and was handed
a Mutu No. 10 jersey, which he paraded around to show solidarity
with his teammate.
The day's most spectacular goal belonged to Okaka, who
swiftly redirected a cross from Romanian midfielder Drian Florin
Pit with his back to the goal. It was reminiscent of Amantino
Mancini's back-heeled goal against Lazio in a Rome derby several
years ago.
"After these six months at Fulham he'll come back more mature
and well-rounded," Roma coach Claudio Ranieri said of Okaka. "He's
got a good basis to work with."
Riise, who scored a last-minute winner against Juventus last
weekend, found the target this time with a difficult, angled volley
from the edge of the area.
Roma is on a run of 14 wins and three draws in all
competitions.
In Milan, Ronaldinho hit the post in the 36th and Livorno
goalkeeper Francesco Benussi failed to punch away a cross from
David Beckham eight minutes later, letting Ambrosini take advantage
to put the Rossoneri ahead.
Lucarelli equalized with a deflection from the edge of the
box, and Livorno then held tight during a full-on assault from
Milan for the rest of the half.
Ambrosini nearly had the winner in the 66th, too, but Benussi
made a tough save. Beckham then had a shot blocked by a defender in
the 70th and second-half substitute Klaas Jan Huntelaar also
couldn't connect with the rebound.
A free kick from Ronaldinho deflected high off Livorno's wall
in the 76th and Filippo Inzaghi came on as an extra striker for
Milan in the 78th, but to no avail.
"The difficulties today were in attack. We weren't able to
capitalize," Milan coach Leonardo said.
Milan forward Marco Borriello was taken to a local hospital
after a knock to his head in the 19th minute. He came back on after
the incident but then was replaced by Huntelaar for the second
half.
Milan was coming off consecutive defeats, losing 2-0 to Inter
in the derby last weekend and then being eliminated by Udinese from
the Italian Cup.
Livorno also had a turbulent week, with coach Serse Cosmi
eventually deciding to stay on after offering his resignation
following a 2-0 loss to Napoli.