Round two roundup

It seems strange to call this round two given that it was in effect opening day but technically speaking this was the second round and it did not disappoint with 35 goals being banged in around the Penisula over just ten games. It is truly great to be back. 

Big crowds packed the stands as well despite the strike in week one and this was the case in Turin today when Juve put on a superb display to beat Parma 4-1 in the grand opening of their stadium. A wonderful display from Andrea Pirlo rolled back the years as he ran the game from midfield. The Juventini would have been encouraged by this dominant display and entertained by two especially stunning strikes from Claudio Marchisio and new midfield rock Artur Vidal.

Not to be outdone of course rivals Napoli had the night before put three past Cesena as they won their for the second year in a row. This time however it was Marek Hamsik and not Edison Cavani who was the hero as the midfielder provided the assist for Hugo Campagnaro's goal and then belted one in with a fierce left footed drive himself in the games dying embers. With Milan and Lazio sharing the spoils this put Napoli and Juve ahead of two of their major rivals this season before Fiorentina, Roma and Inter went into action later in the day. Fiorentina did not let the viola fans down putting in a dominant home display to beat Bologna 2-0. Alberto Gilardino headed the Florence outfit in front and Cerci who ended the season red hot began this one in the same manner and put them 2 in front after the break.

Two of the big title contenders were still to come and Roma's tifosi will not be impressed with the manner in which their season has started as they crashed to a 2-1 home defeat to Cagliari. Luis Enrique will be under huge pressure and with Inter up next week they could well enter week three with no points on the board. Inter however could face that prospect as well as they fell 4-3 to Palermo in Sicily tonight in a belter of an encounter. Inter at half time but that has often been a curse on this fixture in recent years and it proved to be the case tonight as Palermo secured the win through two brilliant strikes from Miccoli and Pinilla respectively. Milito and Forlan both hit the net but it was not enough for the Benemata.

Elsewhere Genoa stalled at home to Atalanta while new boys Novara managed to come back twice away at Chievo to secure a precious point. Siena and Catania also shared the spoils while Udinese picked up three massive points in Lecce to begin their season with a vital away win.