It was a weekend of low thrills, with the 10 games producing just 19 goals. That total included five penalty kicks and an own goal.
The own goal gave Napoli three points at Lazio when Lazio defender Sebastiano Siviglia deflected in a cross off his thigh and past his own goalkeeper. Two of the penalties, meanwhile, came in Udinese's win over Roma. The first was one of two goals scored by Antonio di Natale as Udinese took a 3-0 lead, di Natale's pair sandwiching an effort by Antonio Floro Flores. Francesco Totti's consolation spot kick was the first goal of a miserable week for Roma, beaten last weekend 4-0 at home by Inter, and defeated in Champions League action Wednesday by Chelsea.
Inter coach Jose Mourinho declared himself "not satisfied" with his side's 0-0 home tie with Genoa and said his players had to listen more to what he told them. But he paid tribute to the visitors with the customary condescending compliment made by any big team eager to make its failure to beat a lowly opponent appear less embarrassing. "My compliments to Genoa, they played a good match," said Mourinho. "Their players were very disciplined. They adapted each time we tried to change our game. They are an intelligent team and their coach was always prepared."
Inter's city rival, AC Milan, edged Atalante with a neatly worked late goal by Kaka, involving Alexandre Pato and Marco Borriello. "We did not play well," conceded Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti. "Maybe today we were rewarded more than we deserved." The win took Milan to fourth, one point behind the leading pack of three -- Udinese, Lazio and Inter.
Juventus edged Torino, 1-0, in the Turin derby thanks to a goal by Amauri that owed more to the failure of goalkeeper Alex Calderoni to stop his shot than it did to any great finishing. Juve is still stuck back in 10th with a stingy seven goals from eight games. "This is a wonderful week for us," claimed the Brazilian striker, "and we've managed to get through the bad patch. We mustn't let go now, with this mentality and willpower we can still reach our goal, i.e. the Scudetto." On less than a goal a game, let's hope not.
The only game besides Udinese-Roma to produce more than two goals was Fiorentina's 3-1 win at Palermo, helped by a brace from Adrian Mutu and an opening goal from Alberto Gilardino. Fiorentina is fifth, also nicely poised behind the leading pack. Catania, which with five goals conceded boasts the league's equal-tightest defense with Inter, is in sixth.
HIGHLIGHT (VIDEO): Adrian Mutu's thumping second goal for Fiorentina to seal its win in Palermo.
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