Post by Salem6 on Dec 22, 2008 10:18:52 GMT
Serie A Week 17 - 21/12/08 (14.00 UK)
Atalanta 1 - 3 Juventus
Del Piero 30 (J), Legrottaglie 37 (J), Vieri 48 (A), Amauri 79 (J)
Stadio Azzurri d'Italia
Alessandro Del Piero is the Capocannoniere of 2008, having scored 20 Serie A goals in the calendar year and helped Juventus to a hard-fought victory in Bergamo.
The Bianconeri already knew Inter were Winter Champions after last night's controversial win at Siena, so needed a victory to stay within six points. That would be no mean feat, as Atalanta had failed to win on only two occasions at the Azzurri d'Italia this season, conceding four goals in eight games.
The injury crisis remained with Mauro Camoranesi, Pavel Nedved, Zdenek Grygera and Vincenzo Iaquinta joining David Trezeguet, Gigi Buffon, Christian Poulsen, Tiago Mendes and Dario Knezevic on the sidelines. Gianpaolo Bellini and Claudio Rivalta sat out bans for the home side, while Coach Gigi Del Neri had curiously lost all 11 of his career encounters with Juventus.
Cristiano Doni's splendid free kick shaved a coat of paint off the upright with Alex Manninger rooted to the spot. Moments later the Austrian goalkeeper was called into action to deny a Sergio Floccari screamer after Giorgio Chiellini slipped in the area.
Chiellini put the ball in the back of the net, but he was correctly flagged offside. It was all Atalanta early on, though, and Floccari's free header was over. In a curious moment, Manninger asked those behind the goal for a hat as the sun was in his eyes, but it had a large Atalanta club symbol on the front. He later managed to get a Juventus hat instead.
Manninger smothered a Floccari strike, but Juventus broke the deadlock. Marco Marchionni may have been offside when he gathered down the right, but he rolled across for Alessandro Del Piero to tap in after a double defensive error failed to block the assist. It was Del Piero's 20th Serie A goal in 2008.
That goal changed the course of the match, as Juventus took control and doubled their advantage. A corner kick found Nicola Legrottaglie for a looping header from six yards that slotted into the top corner despite Coppola getting his fingertips to it.
Former Juventus star Christian Vieri came on for the second half and it proved an inspired substitution, as within three minutes he had got Atalanta back into the game. He got his powerful header to a corner from seven yards and Manninger could do nothing about it.
That fired up the Orobici again and Floccari had penalty appeals waved away, but he had every reason to complain as he appeared to be tripped by Marchionni in the area.
Chiellini required what was effectively a goalline clearance, as Floccari's cutback beat everyone but found no Atalanta teammates in support.
Del Piero's free kick was held and Chiellini charged down an attempt from Diego De Ascentis.
There was tension as both sides tried to get the goal, but Amauri made the point safe late on with his cushioned header from six yards on a Marchionni free kick from the right. Amauri is the second top scorer of 2008 with 19 goals.
Claudio Marchisio was fortunate to avoid a red card for his very late tackle on Floccari, so Claudio Ranieri substituted the youngster to avoid further problems.
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Atalanta: Coppola; Garics, Talamonti (De Ascentis 46), Pellegrino, Manfredini; Ferreira Pinto, Guarente, Padoin, Valdes (Vieri 46); Doni; Floccari
Juventus: Manninger; Mellberg, Chiellini, Legrottaglie, Molinaro; Marchionni, Sissoko, Marchisio (Zanetti 86), De Ceglie (Salihamidzic 74); Amauri, Del Piero
Ref: Farina
www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/sa0809/ata-juv.html