Fantastic match between Sassuolo and Milan (4-3 to Sassuolo). Forget Honda and Balotelli (who was lucky not to be sent off) the star of the day with all four goals for the home team was the wonder kid Domenico Berardi.
Absolutely, one of the best games I've seen so far. Berardi (11 goals in 14 games, playing in a bottom-feeder team like Sassuolo) is definitely a top notch striker and a candidate for the Italian World Cup team. Berardi is owned by Juventus, but is on loan to Sassuolo... he will probably be called back to Turin after the end of the season, even though Llorente and Tevez are doing great there (Llorente again scored 2 goals today against Cagliari).
Milan's defending once more was pathetic, but what do you expect from a team that has Cristian Zapata as their defensive bulwark... Bonera and the goalkeeper Albiati also did not shine. Even though he played only about 20 minutes, the Japanese midfielder Honda did well, hitting a post from a fine effort. Balotelli is basing his game on trying to obtain a penalty, flipping and flopping in the penalty area and complaining, but referees (who were so obliging at the beginning of the season) are not falling for his tricks anymore. He missed an easy header today, but using the head is not his cup of tea, both figuratively and literally.
Verona fell badly against Napoli, using an attacking strategy that was not the best option against a team with so much firepower as Napoli. They are still in 5th place, at least until tomorrow when two more games are scheduled.
Match day 19 Results:
Sassuolo – Milan 4-3 (Berardi 15, 28, 41, 47 / Robinho 9, Balotelli 13, Montolivo 86)
Atalanta – Catania 2-1 (Denis 67-11m, Moralez 86 / Leto 89)
Roma – Genoa 4-0 (Florenzi 25, Totti 30, Maicon 43, Benatia 52)
Verona – Napoli 0-3 (Mertens 27, Insigne 72, Džemaili 76)
Cagliari – Juventus 1-4 (Pinilla 21 / Llorente 31,76, Marchisio 73, Lichtsteiner 80)
Torino – Fiorentina 0-0
Bologna – Lazio 0-0
Livorno – Parma 0-3 (Palladino 2, Amauri 86,90+3-11m)
Sampdoria – Udinese 3-0 (Eder 16-11m,47, Gastaldello 87)
Inter – Chievo 1-1 (Nagatomo 12 / Paloschi 8)
1. Juventus 19 17 1 1 46 12 52
2. AS Roma 19 13 5 1 39 10 44
3. Napoli 19 13 3 3 41 20 42
4. Fiorentina 19 11 4 4 34 20 37
5. Inter Milan 19 8 8 3 38 23 32
6. Verona 19 10 2 7 34 30 32
7. Torino 19 6 8 5 31 27 26
8. Parma 19 6 8 5 29 26 26
9. Lazio 19 6 6 7 23 26 24
10. Genoa 19 6 5 8 19 24 23
11. AC Milan 19 5 7 7 31 30 22
12. Sampdoria 19 5 6 8 22 27 21
13. Atalanta 19 6 3 10 20 29 21
14. Cagliari 19 4 9 6 19 28 21
15. Udinese 19 6 2 11 18 28 20
16. Chievo 19 4 5 10 14 24 17
17. Sassuolo 19 4 5 10 21 41 17
18. Bologna 19 3 7 9 17 33 16
19. Livorno 19 3 4 12 16 33 13
20. Catania 19 3 4 12 13 34 13
Berardi's "poker" against Milan:
[video=youtube;6CrqPCAtdTI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CrqPCAtdTI[/video]