Week 16: Opportunity missed

Opportunity missed, that is the phrase that most of the sides in the top half of the table before this weekend will carry with them into training today. Parma aside none of the sides that were in the top half of the table on Friday night managed a win in Serie A this weekend.

Bari 3-1 Juventus
Juve were the first of the big sides to taste disappointment this weekend as they were well beaten in Bari. Bari took the lead through a deflected goal, and Juve leveled midway through the second half through David Trezeguet who tapped in after a Diego shot was parried away. Juve though shot themselves in the foot before the break as Cannavarro brought down Baretto in the area, and he duly converted the pen. After the break Juve just could not find away through the excellent Bari backline, though they were handed an opportunity to level the tie but Diego ballooned his penalty well over the bar. Bari however did not make the same mistake and finished Juve off late on through an Almiron effort, which was again deflected, that brought the house down.

Milan 0-2 Palermo
The shocks of the Serie A round continued as Delio Rossi's Palermo put in a fantastic effort to take three points from the San Siro. Palermo could have scored early on through Cavani, but Milan too had chances as Boriello just failed to get on the end of a Seedorf cross. Zambrotta too went close, but Milan could not take the early lead that they desperately wanted. After the break though Palermo came out looking like they were the home side and bossed the game for the first 15 minutes. Within this period they scored twice, as Miccoli fired home a quality effort after turning Nesta . Miccoli again was at the heart of the second goal as he squirmed his way through the entire Milan defence. Javier Pastore received the ball and seemed to have blown his chance but Mark Bresciano caught the ball and smashed it into the roof of the net. After this Palermo sat back, and invited Milan too attack. Despite the introduction of Pato Milan could not find a way through. Pato himself got in the way of a Ronaldinho effort and then failed to score from close range in the dying embers.

Atalanta 1-1 Inter Milan
Inter could not take advantage of the defeats to their two main rivals for the Scudetto conceding a late goal from Simone Tirribocchi after they were reduced to ten men thanks to the dismissal of Wesley Sneijder. Diego Milito had given Inter the lead after just 15 minutes, but much like last year in Bergamo they disappointed. Last year they were hammered 3-0 by Atalanta, so this can be considered an improvement. Inter face Lazio at home next week, but go into the game without a win in their last two Serie A rounds.

Sampdoria 0-0 Roma
Before this game there was just one point separating 5th from 13th in the table, so both sides will be slightly disappointed that they could not establish a slight gap between this mass of teams as the Christmas break approaches. Sampdoria started brightly and Pazzini should have scored in the first half but he couldn't get the right angle on his headed effort. Manini also went close but just scuffed his volley attempt, while Julio Sergio pulled off a good safe from an Angelo Palombo Missile. However, in the second half Roma dominated in posession and chances. A looping Vucinic header was tipped over by Castellazzi, and Perrotta missed a good chance after Totti's weighted ball sent hom clean through. It ended 0-0, and both sides would have been slightly disappointed not to gain the three punti.

Elsewhere in Serie A
Finally, Lazio put three points on the board with a 1-0 victory over the entertaining Genoa. Alex Kolarov powered his way through the defence and fired a powerful finish past Marco Amelia. Bologna however fell away to highflying Parma who now are just three points shy of second place in Serie A, and will face the inform Roma next week in what should be an entertaining clash. Napoli blew at two goal lead to Cagliari and conceded three straight goals before leveling in injury time in a classic 3-3 tie, and Fiorentina also blew an early lead away to Chievo but unlike Napoli they could not find anyway back as they crashed 2-1 in Verona. It was Chievo's third win on the bounce. Livorno snatched a vital three points 1-0 on the road in Catania to condemn the Island side to rock bottom, while Siena won at home for the second time in a row against Udinese by 2-1.

Serie A by Numbers
Home wins: 5
Away wins: 2
Top scorers: Di Natale 11, Milito 10, Totti 9, Pazzini 8, Matri 8
Highest game attendances: Bari 3-1 Juve: 51,849, Milan 0-2 Palermo: 39,253, Lazio 1-0 Genoa: 29,489
Round 16 Total attendance: 208661 from 9 games, Cagliari have no offical attendance
Season average Serie A game attendance: 24,242

Attendance stats from www.stadiapostcards.com