A Pint of the Black Stuff, Barkeep

Well, a pretty good weekend for myself as a Romanista and for most of the bigger clubs around Europe. Didier Drogba made a triumphant return for Chelsea, Barcelona continued to display class under adversity and Bayern Münich exorcised some demons by defeating the reigning Bundesliga champions. Here are some write-ups of varying length and quality:

AS Roma 1-0 ACF Fiorentina – Roma have probably never been further away from Luciano Spalletti’s scintillating brand of “champagne” football than they were this evening at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. Under the guidance of Claudio Ranieri, Roma sat back, soaking up wave after wave of pressure from La Viola, who were desperate for a win to get their season back on track. I Lupi failed to control possession, and for 80 minutes were the worst team on the field; the home side did not give any Roman more than a few seconds on top of the ball and closed down space to severely restrict forward movement. Roma had a stroke of luck early on when Juan Manuel Vargas had a goal disallowed on a very close (but I believe correct) offside call. Francesco Totti had a rather abysmal first half (he was substituted for Julio Baptista at the interval) and Fiorentina dominated up and down the left flank with players like Juan Manuel Vargas and Stevan Jovetic creating all kinds of space and chances for the home team. Julio Sergio played the role of saviour on several occasions, denying Alberto Gilardino & co when all other lines of defense failed. The centreback pairing of Philippe Mexès and Juan were rock-solid, but unfortunately Roma’s midfield and strikers were lacklustre today and could hardly get a move going at all. All in all, a display of negative, conservative, old school football – classic Italian and classic Ranieri. But unlike Fiorentina, Roma made their chances (chance?) count. It was only in the 82nd minute that I Giallorossi took the lead, displaying the late determination that has come to characterize Claudio Ranieri’s side. The ball fell to Mirko Vučinić (who had, for the most part, a poor match) after a set piece, and the Montenegrin smashed home from close range to give his side an invaluable 1-0 lead. Roma now sit 2nd in the standings, just 8 points behind Inter and 2 above Milan. Hope, that pestilent and persistent narcotic of fans, remains very much alive in the Eternal city.

Did I mention 19 games undefeated?

Catania 1-0 SS Lazio – Well, half of it. I’m only bothering to comment on this match because of its ramifications; Catania shaded a victory past Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico to lift themselves out of – and drop Lazio down into – the relegation zone. Gaston Maxi Lopez scored the only goal for the Sicilians on 63′, which means Davide Ballardini’s men are very much in the red zone.

AC Milan 0-0 Bologna – Silvio Berlusconi’s Milan continued to struggle this weekend with a draw away to relegation candidates Bologna. I Rossoneri dominated possession and had the lion’s share of the chances, but were unable to finish and forced to settle for a point at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara. The visitors even came as close as to hit the crossbar in injury time, but those few tantalizing close calls were not enough to secure three points and Milan have now fallen behind Roma in the standings. Much to my delight.

Juventus 1-1 Livorno – Well, it seems like the appointment of Alberto Zaccheroni hasn’t been enough to pull this Juventus side out of their skid (who would’ve thunk it?). Zaccheroni experimented with a 3-5-2 and made some rather questionable suggestions for the starting XI, and fell prey to an eager and determined Livorno side. Antonio Filippini and Nicola Legrottaglie found the net for their respective sides

Inter 3-0 Cagliari - Inter proved once again why they are 8 points clear atop the Serie A table with a dominating performance at the San Siro this afternoon. Mourinho’s goon-squad struck hard and struck early, with goals from Goran Pandev and Walter Samuel seeing them up 2-0 before the first 20 minutes had passed. Alessandro Matri thought he had pulled one back for his side on 34′, but the goal was disallowed for offside. After the interval, Diego Milito all but killed off the match with a close-range strike on 47′ to ensure the end of Cagliari’s 6-game unbeaten run and cement his own squad’s position atop the table. Milito is surely one of the most clinical strikers in Europe at the moment and sits tied atop the Capocannoniere chart; for an Interista, he’s a hard guy to hate.

Totò single-handedly kept his side afloat.

Udinese 3-1 SSC Napoli - The other man who sits tied atop that chart is Udinese’s Antonio di Natale. The Neapolitan did his best to undermine his hometown squad, scoring a hattrick and ending their 15-game unbeaten spell. Di Natale opened the scoring on 7′ when Cristian Maggio gave up a penalty; Udinese’s captain missed from the spot but converted the rebound that Morgan De Sanctis failed to hold on to. The goal was the first Walter Mazzarri’s men had conceded since December 12th. Maggio made up for his early error on 21′, burying a rebound at the other end of the pitch to make it 1-all. However, the Napoli man would pick up a second booking just before the break and received his marching orders, leaving his squad a man down for the entire second half. Despite the man advantage, the Friuli side left it late, and Di Natale’s second goal came only in the 91st minute, followed by his third in the 93rd. The victory for le Zebrette was the first for coach Gianni de Biasi since his taking the reins on December 22nd – it lifts the side several points clear of the relegation zone and, hopefully, will mark a turning point in their Serie A campaign.

Football:

The face of Gunner nightmares.

Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal – In what has become the only London derby of any real relevance, Chelsea consolidated their place atop the Premiership table with a triumphant return from the African Cup of Nations for striker Didier Drogba. Arsene Wenger’s men proved once again that they did not have the mettle to challenge against stronger and more defensive sides, falling to a pair of first-half goals from the big Ivorian. The first came off of a corner kick taken by Florent Malouda; skipper John Terry received and flicked on to find Drogba at the far post, and the striker made no mistake from close-range. That was on only 7′. The secondcrushing goal came on 23′ – Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba combined on the counterattack to slash apart the mediocrity that is the Gunner’s defense and it was again Drogba who smashed home to bring Stamford Bridge to its feet and the visitors to their knees. Though Wenger’s men fought gallantly for the remainder of the match they were unable to find the incisive play and the finishing needed to stage a comeback victory. The holes in Arsenal’s style of play become more and more apparent with each outing, and for all their flair the Gunners were unable to penetrate Carlo Ancelotti’s well-organized side. The North London side now sit 9 points adrift of league-leaders Chelsea, and only 5 ahead of Liverpool as the familiar big 4 settle back into order.

Liverpool 1-0 Everton – The Reds’ fortunes continue on a tentative upswing, dispatching Everton in the Merseyside derby and clawing their way back into 4th place. There was an air of violence about Anfield as tackles flew and cards were handed out; an unnecessarily physical match, but exactly what you’d expect from such a bitter derby rivalry. Antagonists such as Steven Pienaar and Javier Mascherano were lucky not to be sent off for brash and violent tackles (well, Pienaar was sent off on 95′, but should have been long before), while Sotiris Kyrgiakos was not so lucky and saw red for a two-footed tackle on Marouane Fellaini in the 34th minute. Dirk Kuyt, who has been just about the only reliable producer for Liverpool, provided the match’s only goal on 55′ – heading in a Steven Gerrard corner which Tim Howard failed to deal with. Rafa Benitez’ men can finally count themselves among the top 4, but it remains to be seen whether they can hold on to their rather precarious position and whether this positive streak can continue for them.

Manchester Utd 5-0 Portsmouth FC - Sir Alex Ferguson’s men, on the other hand, enjoyed a lovely kick-about at Old Trafford, where they were gifted 3 own-goals by an increasingly pathetic Portsmouth side. Wayne Rooney opened the scoring with his 23rd goal of the season on 41′, while Anthony Vanden Borre deflected Nani’s cross into his own net during first-half stoppage time to see his side go 2 down before the break. After, it was more of the same (and by “of the same” I mean “slapstick comedy”) as Michael Carrick’s tentative drive ricocheted off of Richard Hughes and into the back of the net once more. 3-0 United, with 1 United goal. The laziest man alive Dimitar Berbatov added to the visitors’ misery on 62′ by curling the ball past a hapless David James, while just 7 minutes later Marc Wilson found himself a bit flustered and beat David James for the 3rd own-goal of the game to put United up 5-0. That was it for the slapstick comedy, as United sit comfortably in second on the back of the easiest game of their careers.

Futbol:

Piqué couldn't believe the call either.

Barcelona 2-1 Getafe – Barcelona got off on the right foot against Getafe, with Lionel Messi finding the net on only 7′, and seemingly would have cruised to an easy win at the Camp Nou if not for a spot of dodgy refereeing. Though Barça looked to take command of the match early, their efforts were bruised when Gerard Piqué was sent off on 25′ for a high and late tackle on Rafa. The decision was rather harsh (Xavi went into the books himself for arguing vehemently against the call), but Pep Guardiola’s men played on. From that point on, Barça seemed content to defend their lead and trouble their opponents on the counter – it was on one such counterattack that Xavi doubled his side’s lead (67′) after some nice interplay between himself, Lionel Messi and Marquez. Marquez would cause his side some grief late into stoppage time, when he dragged down one of the los Azulones players, giving up a spot kick and receiving his marching orders. Though Soldado would convert, it was little more than consolation as the 9-man Blaugrana came away with a victory that was perhaps more difficult than it needed to be.

Real Madrid 3-1 Espanyol – Los Blancos did their best to keep the pressure on Barcelona at the top of the table, hammering Espanyol at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu to the tune of 3-0. Sergio Ramos and Kaká scored a pair of first-half goals to give the home side an early lead, while Gonzalo Higuaín killed the game off for good with a strike of his own in the 89th minute. The scoreline could have been dramatically more unbalanced but for the brilliance of Espanyol netminder Kameni, who did his very best to deny Los Merengues and prevented the likes of Raúl, in particular, from appearing on the scoresheet. Despite their best efforts, Barça remain all-but-untouchable atop the table, and Manuel Pellegrini’s men will have to hope for a slip-up if they wish to top the La Liga table.

Fußball:

Admit it, you missed his pretty face.

Bayern Münich 3-1 Vfl Wolfsburg – Bayern continue to profit from the work of the prolific duo of Arjen Robben and Daniel Van Buyten, who combined to gift die Roten an early lead at the Volkswagon-Arena in Wolfsburg. The Dutchman scored only 2 minutes in (profiting from a fantastic run by youngster Thomas Müller), and the Belgian 25 minutes later, to set the tone for a commanding performance from FC Hollywood. However, Wolfsburg strike pair Edin Dzeko and Grafite were not eager to roll over and die, and the Brazilian in particular let loose a multitude of shots and did his best to test Hans-Jörg Butt between the sticks. At halftime Franck Ribéry came on for Ivica Olic, and it appeared 12 minutes later that he had marked his appearance with a goal – the goal, however, was awarded to Wolfsburg defender Andrea Barzagli, who inadvertently directedthe shot into his own net. As Bayer Leverkusen tied Vfl Bochum, it seemed that Münich would go top, but Grafite ended up scoring the last goal of the match on 90′, leaving Bayern sitting second in the table by a 2-goal differential.