Livorno 0-2 Udinese (Serie A)

Italian football news: Livorno 0-2 Udinese
Sanchez 8 (U), Di Natale 35 (U)
Stadio Picchi

Livorno are practically relegated after this home defeat on Gennaro Ruotolo’s comeback.

This was the Amaranto’s last chance saloon, as Serse Cosmi was sacked and replaced by the Coach who started the campaign, Gennaro Ruotolo. They had amassed just five points from the last 13 rounds and needed a result against Udinese, who were hovering on the edge of the drop zone despite thrashing Juventus 3-0 last week.

Leonardo Miglionico, Alessandro Bernardini, Antonio Filippini, Diniz and Andrea Esposito were sidelined, while the Friulani missed Andrea Coda, Gaetano D’Agostino, Christian Obodo and Dusan Basta. Surprisingly, Cristiano Lucarelli was left on the bench.

It was Udinese who got off to the stronger start, as within 120 seconds Antonio Di Natale’s snapshot was fingertipped out from under the crossbar.

The Friulani broke through thanks to Chilean youngster Alexis Sanchez. He got in front of Pieri and with a great first touch went round the goalkeeper to slot home.

Rubinho struggled to deny a deflected Simone Pepe effort, while Di Natale drilled just wide. Samir Handanovic comfortably dealt with a Nico Pulzetti header.

Di Natale added to his seasonal tally with a classic counter-attack, sweeping in relatively undisturbed from a Simone Pepe assist down the left channel.

Handanovic flew across the face of goal to deny a Mozart snapshot, but Livorno fans protested and play was temporarily halted for flares thrown on to the pitch.

Ruotolo made a double substitution at the break, introucing Claudio Bellucci and Vitale, but still no sign of captain Lucarelli. Moments later Livorno also lost goalkeeper Rubinho, who seemed to catch a chill in the freezing rain and was visibly shivering as he was led away wrapped in a blanket.

Handanovic parried a Francesco Tavano strike and prevented Tomas Danilevicius from getting on to the rebound.

But those were brief respites from an Udinese monologue at the Stadio Picchi. Substitute goalkeeper Alfonso De Lucia was kept busy by a Giovanni Pasquale snapshot and Sanchez strike.
Livorno: Rubinho (De Lucia 49); Raimondi, Peticone, Knezevic, Pieri (Vitale 46); Pulzetti, Prutsch (Bellucci 46), Mozart, Moro; Danivelicius, Tavano

Udinese: Handanovic; Ferronetti, Zapata, Lukovic, Pasquale; Isla, Sammarco (Badu 82), Asamoah; Pepe, Di Natale, Sanchez (Lodi 91)

Ref: Brighi

Bologna 2-3 Lazio (Serie A)

Italian football news: Bologna 2-3 Lazio
Guana 12 (B), Portanova 16 (B), Mauri 44 (L), Dias 63 (L), Rocchi 67 (L)
Stadio Dall’Ara

Lazio completed an extraordinary comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at the Dall’Ara.

Neither side was entirely assured of Serie A safety yet, so it was a tense six-pointer. Lazio were in better shape with one defeat in five, while Bologna had lost four on the trot. Vangelis Moras and Nicola Mingazzini were sidelined for the hosts. Stephan Lichtsteiner was suspended along with the injured Francelino Matuzalem, Pasquale Foggia and Mourad Meghni.

Bologna pounced on a defensive error to take the lead, as Giuseppe Biava lost the ball in his own box and Modesto rolled it back across for Roberto Guana to hit an absolute missile from the edge of the box.

Moments later it was 2-0 and again defending was unimpressive from Lazio. A corner kick found Daniele Portanova’s free header at the near post with very little competition.

Lazio got their first shot on goal after 40 minutes at the Stadio Dall’Ara. Mauro Zarate skipped past his marker and the powerful daisy-cutter cracked against the base of the upright.

Tommaso Rocchi replaced the disappointing Biava and it sparked a reaction from the Biancocelesti. Bologna also threatened with a Santos header from Martins Adailton’s free kick skimming the post.

Just before half-time, an Aleksandar Kolarov cross from the left found Stefano Mauri to trap and smash a powerful screamer from outside the box.

Emiliano Viviano plucked a deflected Zarate cross-shot off the line straight after the restart.

Zarate then aimed a daisy-cutter at the base of the near post, forcing Viviano into another tricky save, as Lazio were now in control. The goalkeeper also had his palms stung by a Rocchi turn in the area.

The goal was in the air and finally arrived with Andre Dias scoring his first Serie A strike. It was a chaotic move with several shots that ricocheted around the box and Rocchi’s attempt came off the crossbar until Dias got the final touch.

Bologna quite simply disappeared from the pitch and Lazio went 3-2 up moments later. Brocchi’s backheel flick carried on a cross for Rocchi to scuff in from six yards.

Busce’ trapped a long free kick from close range on to fire over with only the only the goalkeeper to beat.

Zarate also wasted, as he went on the counter and fired straight at the goalkeeper.
Bologna: Viviano; Raggi, Portanova, Santos, Lanna; Buscè, Guana (Casarini 71), Mudingayi, Modesto (Gimenez 74); Adailton; Di Vaio (Succi 82)

Lazio: Muslera; Dias, Stendardo, Radu; Biava (Rocchi 38) (Firmani 89), Brocchi, Ledesma, Kolarov; Zarate, Mauri; Floccari (Cruz 78)

Ref: Rosetti

Siena 3-2 Bari (Serie A)

Italian football news: Siena 3-2 Bari
Rivas 13 (B), Ghezzal 17, 62 (S), Castillo 22 (B), Rosi 67 (S)
Stadio Franchi

Siena twice fought back to secure a shock victory over Bari that might be too late to avoid relegation.

Time is running out for Siena and they welcomed high-flying Bari in a desperate bid to keep hope alive. The visitors were missing long-term absentees Andrea Ranocchia, Mariano Donda, Sergio Almiron, Massimo Donati and Vitali Kutuzov. Robur had to do without Luca Rossettini, Francesco Parravicini, Daniele Ficagna and the suspended Emilson Sanchez Cribari.

Bari took the lead with a well-worked goal after 13 minutes. Paulo Vitor Barreto sprung the offside trap and had all the time in the world to roll across for the totally unmarked Emanuel Rivas to side-foot home.

The situation did not last long, as moments later Abdel Ghezzal burst into the box and hit a missile on the bounce that flashed past a helpless Jean-Francois Gillet.

The visitors restored their advantage with Barreto again the provider, this time rolling across for Nacho Castillo to beat Gianluca Curci at the second attempt.

Siena fought back once more, but this time Leonardo Bonucci did just enough to stop Marcelo Larrondo nodding in Massimo Maccarone’s cross. Gillet flew across the face of goal to deny a Ghezzal right-foot snapshot.

Both goalkeepers were kept busy by a series of great chances just before the break. Gillet needed a desperate reaction save to keep out Reginaldo from six yards and 60 seconds later Curci parried Castillo’s strike with yet another Barreto assist.

Maccarone’s free kick was smothered on the line, but Ghezzal made the most of a defensive slip on the edge of the area. Without hesitation he lobbed the goalkeepeer to complete his brace.

Gillet anticipated Maccarone and accidentally handed the ball to Larrondo, but Bonucci was back there to protect the open goal.

Siena completed the comeback by taking the lead! A goalline clearance denied the first strike from Del Grosso, but Bari could do nothing on Aleandro Rosi’s follow-up from a couple of yards.
Siena: Curci; Rosi, Pratali, Odibe (Malago’ 46), Del Grosso; Vergassola, Tziolis; Reginaldo (Calaio’ 55), Ghezzal, Maccarone; Larrondo (Jajalo 85)

Bari: Gillet; Belmonte, A Masiello, Bonucci, S Masiello; Rivas (Koman 40), De Vezze (Allegretti 70), Gazzi, Alvarez; Barreto (Gosztonyi 77), Castillo

Ref: Mazzoleni

Genoa 1-1 Livorno (Serie A)

Italian Serie A: Genoa 1-1 Livorno
Boakye 51 (G), Tavano 87 (L)
Stadio Ferraris

Francesco Tavano was slapped by hooligans this week, but scored the goal that leaves Livorno some slender hope of avoiding relegation. The real star of the show was 17-year-old Richmond Boakye, who scored on a sensational Serie A debut.

It has been a hellish few days for Livorno, as hooligans stormed the training ground, slashed players’ tyres and even slapped Francesco Tavano across the face. Propping up the table and travelling to a side with one of the best home records in Serie A was a daunting prospect.

Genoa were without Dario Dainelli, Houssine Kharja, Bosko Jankovic, Robert Acquafresca and the suspended Giuseppe Sculli. Livorno left behind Leonardo Miglionico, Romano Perticone and Filippini.

Rodrigo Palacio fired off target from a David Suazo assist, but the Honduran picked up a muscular injury in that move and limped off for 17-year-old youth team player Richmond Boakye.

Nelson Rivas drilled a free kick wide, but the only real chance of the first half fell to Ghanaian Boakye. His right-foot curler skimmed the frame of the goal after 44 minutes of football.

Teenager Ricky Boakye broke the deadlock at the dawn of the second half. He chested down a Giandomenico Cross cross and prodded it right-footed past the goalkeeper from six yards to mark a sensational Serie A debut.

Boakye was a constant danger and his pace gave Dario Knezevic all sorts of problems. Francesco Tavano tried to score directly from the corner flag, forcing a tough save out of Marco Amelia.

Alberto Zapater drilled just wide and Boakye failed to get on the end of a poor backpass before Rubinho.

Livorno hung in there and equalised in the final minutes with Tavano, who refused to celebrate after his traumatic week. The Diniz cross was knocked down by Tomas Danilevicius for Tavano to bundle over the line from close range.

Chievo 1-2 Sampdoria – Serie A

Serie A news

Cassano 1 (S), Pazzini 55 (S), Mantovani 75 (C)
Stadio Bentegodi

Sampdoria continue the push for Europe with this valuable away victory at 10-man Chievo.

Gigi Del Neri returned to the stadium where he started the ‘Miracolo Chievo’ with their first ever Serie A promotion in 2001, followed by UEFA Cup qualification. He was still causing upsets as Samp were in joint fifth place with Juventus and Napoli going into this Easter weekend. Daniele Mannini sat out a ban for the visitors along with the injured Nicola Pozzi, Luca Castellazzi and Marco Rossi. Chievo missed Michele Marcolini and Davide Moro.

Sampdoria were unbeaten here since 1999-00, but last conquered the Bentegodi with a 2-0 result on October 27 2004.

It took 45 seconds for Sampdoria to break through! A chaotic move with several shots charged down, including Fernando Tissone, eventually fell to the totally unmarked Antonio Cassano to tap in from seven yards.

Play had barely resumed when ex-Chievo man Franco Semioli sprinted into the box and the referee judged he was brought down by the goalkeeper. However, replays suggest Stefano Sorrentino got the ball and the referee changed his mind after consulting with the linesman.

Sergio Pellissier drilled over and Marco Storari flew to palm a fierce Simone Bentivoglio free kick out of the near top corner of the net.

De Paula nodded just wide from a Bentivoglio cross, as did Angelo Palombo with his effort, but on 44 minutes Semioli and Cassano combined for Giampaolo Pazzini to force Sorrentino into a safe.

In first half stoppages Storari accidentally got Pellissier’s knee in the face when rushing out to smother at his feet.

Giampaolo Pinzi drilled over from the edge of the box and Sorrentino kept out Stefano Lucchini’s header, but Sampdoria doubled their advantage.

A smart Cassano dummy let Tissone’s ball through and Pazzini sprung the offside trap. His first shot was charged down by Sorrentino, but Pazzo squeezed the second past the goalkeeper into an empty net.

Chievo went down to 10 men, as Morero was shown a straight red card for going through the back of Cassano’s heel. It seemed a little harsh, though his studs were slightly showing.

Nonetheless, Chievo got back into the game when a corner was knocked on and nobody tried to intercept Andrea Mantovani, who came sliding in from six yards at the back post.