Serie A - Juventus scrape past Napoli
Claudio Marchisio's first-half goal gave second-placed Juventus a 1-0 home win over Napoli in Serie A.
Marchisio's deflected shot put the Bianconeri ahead just before half-time in a poor match with few genuine opportunities.
An uninspiring opening 45 minutes saw Juventus create more chances but Napoli keeper Nicolas Navarro was in fine form.
The 23-year-old Argentine denied Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet with top class saves and also covered the back of shaky-looking 21-year-old centre-back Fabiano Santacroce with some timely interceptions.
Gianluigi Buffon was considerably less busy in the Juventus goal, but when the Italy keeper was called into action he did not disappoint with a good near-post block from Slovak playmaker Marek Hamsik.
The hosts took the lead just before the break after a good move involving Sebastian Giovinco and Christian Poulsen, although Marchisio's shot would not have beaten Navarro without a big deflection off Manuele Blasi.
The second half began with a slight improvement in terms of the passing, but it stayed tight and neither side created any clear-cut chances.
After the hour mark passed, the game took a turn for the worse and became a slog, with both teams short on inspiration and the majority of goal threat coming from high, hopeful balls which proved not to be the best decision with goalkeepers as strong in the air as Buffon and Navarro.
Trezeguet had a half chance but his shot was blocked by Matteo Contini, while substitute Amauri met a cross from the France striker with a mis-directed header.
Napoli's Ezequiel Lavezzi had the ball in the back of the net after a goalmouth scramble followed a late free-kick, but it was correctly ruled out for offside on the part of Paolo Cannavaro, whose initial header was blocked by Buffon.
Despite some late Napoli pressure, Juve held on for the win and move six points behind runaway leaders Internazionale, while the visitors stay in mid-table.
In the earlier Serie A clash, Mauro Zarate struck twice as Lazio beat struggling Bologna 2-0 to move up to seventh in Serie A.
The Argentine forward ended his three-month goal drought by curling a free-kick past Francesco Antonioli on 36 minutes.
He sealed the win with nine minutes to go when he chipped Antonioli after a one-two with strike partner Tommaso Rocchi.
The former Birmingham man now has 10 league goals for the season.
Lazio's first league win at home in two months made it a bitter return to the Stadio Olimpico for Bologna boss Sinisa Mihajlovic, who played for the Rome side between 1998 and 2004.
Midfielder Massimo Mutarelli came on in the second half to make his debut for 17th-placed Bologna against the club he took to a tribunal to free himself from his contract.
Lazio always had a soft spot in me because the number of Argentine players that have played for the club. From Simeone to Veron to Crespo to Zarate.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy that Zarate is back into goalscoring form. Can't believe his last goal was back in November.
Hopefully he keeps this up and maybe our coach Diego will call him up for the National Team. We do need an out-n-out striker like him.
Please drop by at my blog and perhaps you can share with us your views on the Argentine players playing Serie A.
http://mundoalbiceleste.blogspot.com/2009/02/zarate-double-helps-lazio-beat-bologna.html