They left it late but some inspiration from Antonio Cassano and Rodney Strasser, of all Milan players, gave Milan three vital points in Cagliari despite being somewhat depleted. No Nesta, no Ibrahimovic, no Zambrotta and no Boateng illustraited Milan's growing sense of depth that their squad has as Cassano, Robinho and Pato filled the void upfront instead. It's certainly exciting times for Milan as their initial three point lead at the beginning of play on Thursday afternoon was extended to five by the 90 minute mark what with Lazio managing just a 0-0 draw against Genoa, breaking their run of three wins in a row against Genoa at the Marassi. After dominating the first half Lazio were subjected to a barrage of pressure from the Grifoni who spurned many guilt edged chances, with Luca Toni missing a free header. However as usual Lazio keeper Fernando Muslera was on top form making a number of world class stops.
This was not the best time for Lazio's winning streak to come to an end at the Marassi but for Milan it was an added bonus to what had already turned out to be a good day for them. What am I talking about? Juve of course and there debacle at home to Parma which resulted in a 4-1 defeat after the old lady were reduced to ten men after just 17 minutes. Felipe Melo saw red for kicking Massimo Paci in the face while on the ground. It was a disgraceful incident from a player who has quite a habit of disgracing himself on the pitch in recent seasons. This, of course, came after the injury to Fabio Quagliarella. Things only got worse for Juve as a disallowed goal, Giovinco brace, Crespo penalty and a Palladino injury time goal subjected Juve to a 4-1 massacre. It must have been sweet however for Giovinco to return and haunt his parent club who have shown little faith in him.
With Lazio and Juve both dropping points it was turning into the dream start to 2011 for Milan. However, Roma and Inter had something to say about that. The Lupi recorded a solid 4-2 win over Catania with a brace from Marco Boriello and Mirko Vucinic apiece while Inter, under new manager Leonardo, recorded an excellent 3-1 win over in form Napoli with Thiago Motta scoring an superb double, and with two games in hand over their fellow title contenders Inter could well find themselves back in contention in no time at all. However, a tricky trip to Catania awaits them on Sunday and they will be looking to overturn a 3-1 hammering that they receieved on their last visit there.
Elsewhere fans were ultimately allowed into watch Lecce v Bari but many would have left disappointed as the home side fell to a 1-0 defeat in what was Bari's first win since September. Joining Bari in the win category were Cesena with Luis Jimenez again on the mark in a huge 6 pointer against Brescia while Udinese again showed themselves to be rock solid at home. Unbeaten since Juventus routed the Friuli 4-0 in mid september Udinese, despite being down to ten men for over an hour, ran out 2-0 winners against Chievo thanks to goals from rising star Alexi Sanchez and club icon Antonio Di Natale. Finally, Palermo continued their fine season with a 3-0 demolition job on Sampdoria. Fabrizio Miccoli got the rout started before Migliaccio and Maccarone completed the job late on. It represented a fine win for Palermo over an inconsitent and now Cassanoless Sampdoria and now the Sicilian outfit
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