Serie A, matchday 23: goalless Capital Derby increases AS Roma regrets after Juventus draw at Hellas

The big dish of the weekend was the 'Derby della Capitale', the Roma derby, as usual an event acting as a catalyst on the entire city.

Saturday's game featured the win of SSC Napoli, Fiorentina and Udinese, the latter apparently restored since the comeback of Toto' Di Natale (second goal in a row, the third in 4 consecutive games). The striker born in Napoli is not so sure any more about quitting football at the end of the season. Definitive decision is postponed to spring.

Napoli-Milan 3:1

The Saturday tasty appetizer brought us back Higuain's restored ability in scoring goals (his last netting dated back to the 19th of January) and Balotelli's tears upon being subbed.

If the final score would suggest a clear supremacy by Benitez's side, things were not exactly so in the first half. AC Milan clammed up the 'Stadio San Paolo' crowd when, on 7' minutes, Adel Taarabt bent it past Pepe Reina for the opener. No one expected the 24-year-old striker to score on his debut, especially the English press who mocked at his signing from AC Milan.

At the same time, even more than one highbrow was risen by the Italian press. Taarabt cost nothing though as it has been Milan's policy in the latest years to sign players at the end of their contracts (Essien, fielded by Seedorf for his debut, was one of them). 

If he was a good signing or not, only time will tell. Meanwhile the finishing of the Moroccan international is certainly to be appreciated as a piece of great skills. Taarabt managed to steal a ball in the midfield line and then run against the Napoli defense, which, as usual, suffers from controlling quick players.

No one of the line came out to tackle or disturb the 'Rossoneri' nr.23 who found the space to aim at Reina and curl a shot towards the far corner of the goal. Napoli's goalkeeper tried to stretch and reach the ball however, he could not manage to get there before the ball hit the back of the net. Napoli tried to react from the shock and resume the game from the exact point where they left it: ball possession and quick build-ups in AC Milan's half.

The equalizer came a mere four minutes later thanks to Inler's ballistic skills. His shot from distance was slightly deflected by De Jong. The ricochet was enough to put off Abbiati who could only watch the ball going over his head into the net. 1-1 in less than fifteen minutes, not bad for a start of this classic game.

Napoli's pressure continued for the remaining half an hour of the first period; however, lack of precision in final pass or finish did not help the home team to lead the score. It took almost one hour for Gonzalo Higuain to score his eleventh goal this season: Inler picked out a pass for 'El Pipita' who surgically put it past Abbiati.

On the scoring chance it was evident the AC Milan defensive weakness as Higuain went easily past the line almost undisturbed. The same pattern went on display a few minutes later when it was Jorginho to send a long ball for Higuain. The Argentine striker squandered the chance after slipping on the box surface.

The total amount of shots on 90' minutes whistle is telling about how Napoli supremacy developed and strengthened in second half: 27 attempts (including one woodwork) against a mere 8.

The impression is that, apart from the initial enthusiasm around Seedorf, there is still a lot of work to be done to improve the AC Milan team build-up. The 'Rossoneri' live upon their individualities and Seedorf is indeed aware of that when, in the post-match interview, complains about Keisuke Honda side-lined by the flu. However, Honda joined AC Milan just a month ago.

A weak excuse to claim for the Milan ineffectiveness. Balotelli was subbed on 76' minutes for Pazzini to come in. The footage of his tears went around the World creating quite a stir when some arguable sources (football lampoon websites like Football Funnys and 101 Great Goals via Twitter) allegedly claimed that they were provoked by racist chants from the Napoli fans.

A completely wrong and slanted information as Balotelli cried most likely because of his poor performance and the substitution that followed. A nervous reaction endorsed by Seedorf in the post-match interviews: ''it is not the first time that happens'' said the Dutch coach ''it happened to me as well''.

This went on before Higuain sealed the score on 82' minutes tapping in Callejon assist undisturbed with Reina stranded. Napoli keep chasing AS Roma and they wait for the 'Giallorossi' for the return of the Coppa Italia semifinal tie (3-2 in Rome last week). Higuain is two goals short of Rossi and, considering 'Pepito' is injured, 'El Pipita' is quite likely to take over.

Lazio-Roma 0:0

Whatever the derby, no one wants to lose it. If this is applicable to any derby taking place in the boot country, it is more valid for the Capital city. Fans, local radios, local tv's and press go on for an entire week talking about this game and how important it is for their respective sides.

They are even keen in depicting dreary scenarios if the game would be lost. The pressure generated by the weeklong drumming reflects upon the squads in the build-up to the game. SS Lazio coach, Edy Reja, confessed on a presser that he had been losing his sleep thinking about how to tackle AS Roma and their best men (read: Gervinho, the bogeyman of any defence recently).

Garcia instead pretended he did not switch on either the radio or the tv and quite calmly said it is a game like any other else. Said that, the goalless draw was the perfect picture of a game neither of the two sides wanted to lose. If the 'Giallorossi' were more bold in trying and winning the game, Lazio defended orderly and managed to limit Gervinho's initiatives.

If the 'Biancocelesti' could regret about something, it was the inability to exploit the counterattacks due to inaccuracy. Considering in which situation Lazio was before Reja took over, the draw might look more rewarding for the home team as the visitors can regret on the many attempts from distance that were off target (Totti, Pjanic and Gervinho).

It is obviously a chance lost for Roma to get closer to Juventus, considering the 'Giallorossi' have already a game to recover (last weekend Roma-Parma was postponed due to waterlogged pitch, it will be played in the start of April).

Hellas Verona – Juventus 2:2

If Juventus was too much for Inter last weekend (3-1 at the 'Juventus Stadium'), they were not enough for Hellas Verona. Conte was quite disappointed in the post-match interviews, to say the least. He stressed the fact that a lack of focus deprived his side of two points. Hellas scored the equalizer on 94' minutes with a Juanito Gomez' header on set-piece situation, a rather unusual circumstance for the solid 'Bianconeri'.

Everything started very well at the 'Stadio Bentegodi' when Tevez opened the score almost immediately (4'). The usual pressure from the 'Bianconeri' produced the 0-2 netted again by Tevez (21'), 13 goals this season. Considering the brace scored by Tevez was not enough to clinch the three points, it will mostly be remembered for both goals being in offside.

Hellas had patience to come back exploiting Juventus browning out in the second half. It already happened against Inter, however the 'Nerazzurri' did not have enough topics to re-open the game. Luca Toni, a 36-year-old who wants to go to the World Cup in Brazil, said before the game that he was still disappointed at Antonio Conte for having rejected him at Juventus when he started his tenure.

The 2006 World Champion served a cold dish named 'revenge' on 52' minutes when he headed a deep cross past Buffon. It was actually Hellas' first shot on goal as during the first half the 'Gialloblu' were unable to reply to Juventus lead. In second half Hellas managed to put pressure on Juventus who were keen on replying with quick counterattacks.

Osvaldo, at his debut, hit a post when he tried a diagonal shot on the run. Toni tried again to hit the back of the net with a header however, Buffon saved it with an incredible dive. He could do nothing later on when Juanito Gomez fixed the score on 2-2. Juventus are still 9 points clear of Roma.

The rest of the matchday

Fiorentina 2-0 win over Atalanta was far from easy. Montella's side found a rather early lead (16') when Ilicic bent it past Consigli on set piece.

After that, it was Atalanta to surprisingly take control of the game and create several dangers to Neto's goal. The Argentine duo, Moralez and Denis, had several chances to equalize and created troubles to the Fiorentina back line.

However, 'La Viola' managed to close the game on 86' minutes when Rafal Wolski, Polish 24-year-old trequartista (former Legia player and among Euro 2012 call-ups) found his first goal on a counterattack he initiated from the midfield line and finished with a superb dribbling that put off half of the Atalanta defense.

In Udine Toto' Di Natale opened the score netting his seventh seasonal goal (56'). Chievo resistance was further curbed by Bruno Fernandez (74') and Emmanuel Badu (86'). Chievo can righteously regret for the output of the game after hitting the woodwork in first half on a delicious back-heel attempt by Cyril Thereau when the score was still 0-0.

The Sunday lunch game offered a brilliant win by Bologna at Torino. Despite of being deprived of Alessandro Diamanti (the Italian fantasista was sold to China club Guangzhou Evergrande coached by Marcello Lippi), the 'Rossoblu' managed to turn the game on its head with Cristaldo scoring a brace against Immobile's opener. Bologna won a game again after 5 matchdays and collected their second away win of the season which corresponded to 'Toro' second home loss.

Inter managed to win their first game since 2014 started. Compared to the game at Sassuolo (7-0) Inter managed to clinch their first three points of the New Year by winning 1-0 against the newly promoted minnow.

Sassuolo have meanwhile changed their coach as Malesani replaced De Francesco, being the 11th coach changed this season (Serie A is 4 shorts of the all-time record). If the score was not larger, it was thanks to Sassuolo goalkeeper, Pegolo, who was the authentic MOTM for the guests.

A positive note for Inter is the clean sheet, however the build-up still needs improvement. Hernanes' debut was quite positive as finally Inter found someone able to pick out passes vertically.

After equalizing at Inter, Catania managed to grab their second away point of the season thanks to another goalless draw this time at Parma.

The Genova sides managed to both bring three points home: Genova won away to Livorno (0-1) and Sampdoria won 1-0 at home to Cagliari.

Betting tips for matchday 24

Inter restored ability in not suffering goals will undergo the acid test of Fiorentina, the third best attack of the Serie A. Will the 3-man line resist? We hardly believe that. Over 2,5 should be a safe bet on the Saturday evening game.
Fiorentina – Inter, Saturday the 15th of February 21:45 EET.

Catania and Lazio will serve lunch on Sunday. Who will manage to eat most? Catania have collected 14 of their 16 points on the home soil. Lazio are an average side away. If you do not feel confident in betting on Lazio winning in Sicily, a 'Goal' option, both to score, should be suitable.
Catania – Lazio, Sunday the 16th of February 13:30 EET.

Juventus are receiving Chievo at the Juventus Stadium. 60 points against 18. Unless Juventus have decided to complicate their lives, the win for the home team it is quite out of discussion. However, if odds are too low, our tip is to opt for Juventus to score only (goal Juventus).
Juventus – Chievo, Sunday the 16th of February 16:00 EET

Atalanta – Parma shall offer goals and emotions. Goal, both to score it is the safe bet.
Atalanta-Parma, Sunday the 16th of February 16:00 EET.
AS Roma cannot allow themselves another false step after the Derby. Sampdoria will not be an easy client to deal with. Roma shall win, however without scoring too much. Under 2,5 it's our tip.
Roma-Sampdoria, Sunday the 16th of February 21:45 EET