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| | Spotlight: Titanic Totti |
Monday 16 April, 2007
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| Football Italia rounds up the winners and the losers from Week 32 of the Serie A season |
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The winners…
Francesco Totti (Roma)
After the “saddest evening” of his career on Tuesday at Old Trafford, Francesco Totti resumed normal service on Sunday as he inspired Roma to a commanding 4-0 thumping of Sampdoria. He opened the scoring with a scorcher and was pretty much at the centre of everything for the Olimpico boys.
Andrea Caracciolo (Palermo)
Not too much was expected of the former Brescia man at Inter given his struggles in Serie A this term. But the giant striker certainly caused the Nerazzurri rearguard problems after giving his side the lead just three minutes in. Palermo will need more of the same from him over the next six weeks.
Kaka (Milan)
Undoubtedly the Man of the Match at the San Filippo as Milan moved into the top four with a win at Messina. The Brazilian turned on the style and his performance deserved more than just the one goal that it acquired. The Rossoneri’s future is in his feet.
The losers…
Marco Materazzi (Inter)
The Inter stopper was due a bad game after a quite remarkable past 12 months for club and country. Ordered to come up against Edison Cavani, the Palermo new boy tested the World Cup winner with a cocktail of strength, speed and skill.
Nikola Lazetic (Torino)
His substitution looked on the cards from the minute he incredibly failed to score from close range with an empty net at his disposal. The attacking midfielder has not had the best of seasons in Turin, where his continual use is surely based on a lack of alternatives rather than true faith in his abilities.
Sulley Ali Muntari (Udinese)
Despite rattling the crossbar with a rasping 79th minute shot, the Ghanaian was pretty poor against Chievo. A performance so disappointing that Coach Alberto Malesani had to publicly defend the Premiership target after he was jeered by his own fans during the game.
The goals…
Ronaldo (Milan)
Milan grabbed their third at Messina with a Ronaldo rocket in the closing stages. After putting in another solid overall performance, his shot from outside of the area rippled the net in some style. He now has five since his January switch from Real Madrid.
Francesco Totti (Roma)
After netting perhaps the Goal of the Season in the first meeting between the sides earlier this term, the No 10 made sure he left his mark on the return too. Roaming just outside of the penalty area, Totti’s thunderous strike left goalkeeper Gianluca Berti helpless.
Elvis Abbruscato (Torino)
Torino scored a consolation goal against Atalanta with the aid of a textbook header from Elvis Abbruscato. The under-performing attacker got absolutely everything correct from his leap, his ball connection and placement as he found the top corner.
The numbers…
Gemelli del Gol
Adrian Mutu’s fine header against Siena was his 14th of the League campaign so far. The Romanian and teammate Luca Toni have now netted an impressive 30 of Fiorentina’s 52 strikes in Serie A.
No interruption
Inter’s salvage job against Palermo means they are still unbeaten in Serie A after 31 games. That is the third best streak in history from the start of a season, behind Fiorentina who didn’t taste defeat for 33 games in 1955-56 and the great Milan side of 1991-92. The latter didn’t lose any of their 34 games that term.
Spin doctor
Gionatha Spinesi has made it into the Catania record books with his goal at Parma. The former Bari man has joined Carlo Facchin as the club’s most lethal hitman in a single Serie A season with 13. However, Facchin netted his tally in 33 games, while the ex-Azzurrini man has only played 27 ties so far.
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| Words: Antonio Labbate |
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Past Spotlights
A unique review of each round of the 2006-07 Serie A campaign. More |
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