It's the last day of the season, and there's plenty of potential drama... methinks it be time for one final live journal! Let's set the stage...

First off, as is the case for any season-ending match, we've got a few good-byes to say. Most notably, Alberto Paloschi will be returning to Milan from his season-long loan, and it appears he will be joined there by wunderkind center back Francesco Acerbi. Other loanees departing after today (none of whom will take the field) are Mickael Facchinetti, Dario Dainelli and Nikola Gulan, while we might see youngster Francesco Grandolfo get a run-out against the biggest rivals of his home club, Bari. Though nothing is certain yet, we'd better soak up our potential last looks at Boukary Drame' (Benfica's interested), Marco Andreolli (Inter), Cyril Thereau (Marseille) and Michael Bradley (Antolini says there may be a Roma-Milan-Inter bidding war in the offing). It's been a fun club, and it won't be quite the same next year, so let's enjoy it!

Beyond this bit of denouement, we also have a good bit of climax going on in a few areas of the table. Three verdicts remain unclear: (1) Who goes down, Lecce or Genoa? (2) Who joins Juventus and Milan in the Champions League, Udinese, Lazio, Napoli or Inter?, and (3) What position does Chievo finish in?

Chievo's match today could determine Lecce's fate, as anything short of a giallorossi victory will see them sent to Serie B yet again, though they'll have a little boost from the absences of Stefano Sorrentino (quad strain) and Rinaldo Cruzado (pulled hammy). Even if Lecce do win, they need Genoa to fall against Palermo, although with Lecce-born captain Fabrizio Miccoli leading out the rosanero, the motivation certainly exists.

The big fun battle is near the top, where a four-headed battle exists for the third Champions League position. Simply put, Udinese clinches it with a result at Catania, but if they lose, all hell breaks loose. Lazio and Inter face each other and a Lazio win could put them into the League, as could a draw if Napoli doesn't beat Siena. If Inter wins, they'd go -- again -- as long as Napoli doesn't beat Siena. Got all that?

Lastly Chievo will be much in favor of an Udinese win over Catania, as it would open the door to our first top-half finish in six years if we win. Let's have a look at the formations, just read out by Simone.

Chievo: Puggioni; Jokic, Cesar, Morero, Sardo; Luciano, Bradley, Vacek; Sammarco; Uribe, Pellissier

Lecce: Benassi; Esposito, Carrozzieri, Brivio; Cuadrado, Blasi, Giacomazzi, Obodo, Di Matteo; Muriel, Di Michele

Lecce are in a 3-5-2, trying to clog the middle of the pitch. I specifically remember Di Michele and Cuadrado torturing us in the game at the Via del Mare, at least according to Simone. Just about ready to go here after a minute of silence…
01’ – … and we’re off. Lecce earn a quick corner, but do nothing with it.
04’ – It’s immediately Cuadrado limping off the field after a clean challenge from Vacek. He stays in, though.
06’ – Napoli have just taken the lead over Siena with Dossena. At present, Udinese would still be in the Champions League, but Napoli are nipping at their heels.
07’ – Never mind, Siena draws level immediately through Destro! Odd to see him score against anyone besides us. Here at the Bentegodi, Chievo are showing a little more intent out of their midfield, trying to serve the two speedsters, Nando and Sergio. To no avail just yet.
14’ – Nice to see Sergio and Uribe playing off one another. A nice bit of interplay leads to an enticing pass by Sergio, cut off by Blasi.
17’ – Free kick scheming for Lecce yields nothing. First real chance follows as Luciano works a nice give-and-go with Pellissier and fires just over the crossbar from about 16 yards.
18’ – A quick shot of the travelling Lecce support calls a brutal morning in May 2007 to my mind. I remember the helpless feeling of depending on another result (in our case, needing Lazio to hold on against Siena) for your survival. I only experienced it for the last 15 minutes, once Catania had made it 2-0 and ensured their safety… these fans have it for a full 90. Eek.
20’ – Free kick for Ceo with Bradley and Sardo over it, I believe. OOOOOOOHHHH, off the post!! What a curling rip from Sardo! Corner follows and… Bradley’s cross is long. Game’s coming to life of late here.
22’ – Udinese are in the Champions League driver’s seat as they take the lead at the Massimino through (who else?) Toto’ Di Natale. Meanwhile, Chievo find themselves in the “top-half” driver’s seat as a result.
24’ – Cuadrado knocks a cross off Jokic and screams for a handball. Replay is inconclusive. At just that moment, Andrea Bertolacci enters for the banged-up Juan Cuadrado.
27’ – Uribe does very well to dust the defense and chase a long launch, but his attempt to knock the ball forward ends up in the hands of Benassi.
28’ – Muriel on a counterattack is closed by a crowd of Chievo defenders. Morero puts it out for a corner. Gigantic missed opportunity for Carrozzieri as the ball falls to him at the far post, finding him unprepared to put it in from 6 yards.
29’ – Jokic shields off a well-fed Muriel, allowing Puggioni to claim it. Lecce beginning to show the importance of this match to them.
30’ – Perhaps the free kick has emboldened Sardo a bit, as he launches a Bradley layoff into orbit from 20+ yards.
31’ – Sammarco’s handball gives Lecce a dangerous free kick from 25 yards, just off to the right of center. Seven in the wall and Di Michele’s shot is around the right and directly at Puggioni.
34’ – Two spectacular saves from Puggioni!! First on a Di Michele shot from open play, Puggioni flies to palm it out from under the bar, then on the ensuing he makes a nearly identical airborne save on another Giacomazzi header. Puggioni-show, as the Italians say!
37’ – Napoli back on top and Dossena has a brace, but as long as Udinese are earning points against Catania, nothing else matters. Meanwhile, Di Michele tries to curl a shot from the left side of the box into the far upper ninety.
42’ – Pellissier earns a free kick near the edge of the box, shaded to the right after Carrozzieri’s foul. Jokic and Luciano over it… Jokic hits it into the wall, and Uribe weakly spins the rebound right at Benassi.
45’ – Muriel dribbles nicely around Jokic but is just unable to keep it on the pitch. One minute of stoppage for the Cuadrado substitution.
46’ – Pretty even match as Mr. Banti whistles the first half to a close. Chievo with a few shouts and one strike of the woodwork, Lecce bringing two enormous saves out of Puggioni.

Right at the close of the half, Milito scores from the spot, so Inter lead Lazio at the Olimpico, changing very little of substance as they draw level with Napoli at 4th position. Genoa and Palermo remain stuck on 0-0, which is fine with the Grifone, I’d imagine. With 45 minutes left, Udinese has a “goal-to-give” in their match, Lecce need two goals (one of their own and one against Genoa) if they’re going to stay up, and Chievo have 10th, 11th and 12th position available depending on whether they win, draw or lose this one. Back in 15!

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01’ – And we’re back with no changes in personnel. I would appreciate getting to see at least one more goal this season, as I had no video last week… I haven’t seen one live since April freaking 7th…
03’ – Puggioni self-immolates at the feet of an offside David Di Michele. I think their desperation is going to start getting palpable in the next 15 to 20 minutes.
06’ – Great opportunity for Vacek as Uribe manages a 4-on-4 break coolly. Kamil balloons it over the bar.
07’ – Horrible news for the salentini as Alberto Gilardino may have just saved Genoa’s season with a 51st minute tally at the Marassi. That increases to three the number of goals Lecce would need in their favor in order to stay up. I’ll never forget Simone’s words in just such a situation six years ago… “Ed e’ finita, ragazzi. Cosa volete che dica?” (“And it’s over, guys. What do you want me to say?”
08’ – Di Matteo is given a yellow for a nasty challenge on Luciano.
14’ – In Sicily, Fabbrini doubles Udinese’s advantage and they’re headed to the Champions League beyond almost any doubt now. Lazio equalizes, but it doesn’t matter at all anymore. Meanwhile, our clivensi are just a goal from a top-half finish which would cheer me considerably from what I had to say in my Season-in-Review.
16’ – Lovely cross from Sardo on the right gets past two well marked attackers at either post.
18’ – MORERO JUST MISSES!! On a curling Bradley free kick from the right, Santi is just unable to get enough of a touch and the ball whistles wide of the far post.
20’ – At the other end, Morero somehow closes Di Michele down at full speed without fouling him. Lazio, meanwhile, takes the lead over Inter, overtaking Napoli for a group stage spot in the Europa league. Napoli is now 5th and Inter 6th.
23’ – Decent attempt for Pellissier after a nice counterattack launched by Vacek’s speed out of the back. Confusion is reigning at both ends.
24’ – Two subs to enter as Sammarco makes way for Cyril Thereau and Uribe leaves for Paloschi’s last run-out in gialloblu’.
29’ – Luciano earns a free kick right by the corner flag which leads to an apparent penalty kick when Cesar is shoved to ground. Meh… Meanwhile, Genoa has scored again through Chievo ex Beppe Sculli and all discourses not related to Chievo’s final table position are closed. Entering for Lecce is Ignacio Piatti, another guy I vividly recall giving Chievo headaches last year.
33’ – Paloschi showing his tenacity trying twice to start a 3-on-3. Di Matteo collides with Sardo moments later springing a counter-counter for Chievo, the ball is knocked to the right side where Vacek is all alone, dribbles into the area and… GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLL!!!! Good for Kamil and good for Chievo!
35’ – Valeri Bojinov enters for the injured Di Matteo.
36’ – And all hell has broken loose as Carrozzieri retailiates for the knock on Di Matteo by hip-checking Thereau and getting red-carded.
39’ – Seven minutes and change left in this season and Chievo continue to attack with the man advantage.
42’ – Lecce living in Chievo’s box and firing in shot after shot, but all blocked by the defense. Lastly, Di Michele dribbles Puggioni and Jokic clears off the goal line. C’mon guys, let’s not have another blackout and toss away two points again. Send me into the break happy!
43’ – Piatti rips from distance and Puggioni makes his third spectacluar save of the match.
44’ – Muriel closed down by Paloschi and Morero at the byline… corner for Lecce.
45’ – Luciano exits and takes an ovation from the crowd, while Francesco Grandolfo gets to tell his Lecce rivals, “see you next season in Serie B!”
46’ – Four minutes left in 2011-12 and Chievo try to close out.
47’ – Grandolfo immediately tries ripping from 20 yards out, well-wide. Just try and get a barese not to shoot against Lecce.
48’ – Paloschi served beautifully by Pellissier and shoots the ball skyward from 6 yards out. That might be a more appropriate swansong for him than a goal anyway… died the way he lived, and so forth.
49’ – One last minute, as Muriel fails to connect on a bicycle kick.
50’ – TOP HAAAAAAAAAAAALF!!!! Chievo finish up with three more points than last season, and an improvement in the standings by one place. Improvement, it’s a good thing. Match ratings below, then some final words.

Chievo: Puggioni 6.5; Sardo 6, Cesar 6, Morero 6.5, Jokic 5.5; Luciano 6 (Grandolfo sv), Bradley 6, Vacek 6.5; Sammarco 5.5 (Thereau 6); Pellissier 5.5, Uribe 5.5 (Paloschi 6)

Lecce: Benassi 6; Esposito 6, Carrozzieri 6.5, Brivio 6; Cuadrado s.v. (Bertolacci 6), Blasi 6, Giacomazzi 6.5, Obodo 6 (Piatti 6), Di Matteo 6.5 (Bojinov sv); Muriel 6.5, Di Michele 5.5

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Alright, season’s over… Udinese is in the Champions League, Lecce is down, and Chievo has finished 10th. Before I bid everyone arrivederci for the summer, let’s compare these final results to my predictions at season-start. I was mostly solid on the Chievo-centric predictions, although I was a little optimistic regarding our place, and I should have just gone “chalk” on the leading scorer: it’s Sergio yet again. As for the table…

Hits
Milan (Champions League, no scudetto)
Roma and Lazio (near Europa League; flip them and I look pretty clairvoyant!)
Parma (even better than I though!)
Cagliari, Fiorentina and Palermo (mid-table and struggling).
Lecce (in the muck, as always)

Misses
Inter & Napoli (thought they would finish 1-2… 5-6 instead)
Udinese (thought all those departures would hurt)
Genoa (thought they would be in Europe, oy…)
Siena, Catania, Bologna and Atalanta (thought they would struggle)
Cesena (quality is no match for total dysfunction).

Of course, I edited my predictions on December 26 with a little less than half the season gone, and those turned out a bit better:

SCUDETTO: Juventus (nailed it!)
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Udinese & Inter (1 for 2)
EUROPA LEAGUE: Lazio & Milan (flip the Milan sides, and I’m pretty solid!)
RELEGATED: Bologna, Novara & Lecce (2 for 3 and will never understand Cesena’s swoon)

In the next few weeks, we’ll find out which three Serie B teams will join us next year replacing Cesena, Novara and Lecce. Until then, enjoy your summer, and Forza Ceo!

Well, another long Serie A campaign is coming to a close for Chievo and the rest of the league today. It was a season that Chievo started with great promise and navigated with no small amount of intrigue. As late as Matchday 25, European football seemed a realistic dream, and while the club has equaled last season's output of 46 points and could top it with a result against Lecce, I found this a slightly disappointing year, probably the first that fell short of hopes since the 2007 relegation. This was a better group of players than in recent years, and yet we look set to repeat last year's finish (11th place) or land on either side at 10th or 12th.

A top-half finish seemed in the cards until the last few weeks, but it fell apart due to a frustrating tendency to draw winnable matches (see Siena, Bologna, Udinese, Roma... last week at Palermo for chrissakes!) and a attack prone to 400-500 minute blackouts (see the months of October and April). Given the run that Inter has been on for the last few weeks, Europa League was a bridge too far, but 50-55 points were certainly within our grasp. In past seasons, I've aimed to sum up the year in one word, but I'm going with two this year. In describing both our in-game tendencies and our season-ending slump, I declare 2011-12 to be Lacking Closure.

Onto the awards and grades...

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Most Valuable Player: CYRIL THEREAU
I feel pretty vindicated that my offseason prediction for "biggest addition" turned out to be such a dominant force for the club. Only Francesco Acerbi had a higher average rating in the matches that I blogged, but he played in half as many of them. Thereau was a constant inventive force and a threat to shoot from almost anywhere on the field (as he demonstrated against Juventus). Despite spending half the season playing behind the strikers, he managed to tally up more goals than anyone besides Sergio. Now, the knocks are coming on Giovanni Sartori's door about #77, particularly from Cyril's homeland where Marseille are said to be very interested. I, for one, hope we can hold onto him.
Honorable Mention: STEFANO SORRENTINO

Biggest Surprise: BOUKARY DRAME
A "throw-in" acquisition in the last days of the transfer window, Bouka came out of nowhere (okay, not nowhere... France) and did beautifully to cover what I said would be our "most rued departure", Andrea Mantovani. Offering just as much excitement as Bojan Jokic had, while succeeding in locking down right wing attackers, he took the left back position from Bobo and never looked back. Not to mention, he scored one of the season's more memorable goals to snag a point at Juventus! If he leaves this summer (Benfica are rumored to be asking), I saw we ask Sochaux what else they have in the pantry... thus far, they're a left back factory!
Honorable Mention: FRANCESCO ACERBI

Best Addition: MICHAEL BRADLEY
After taking a month or two to acclimate, Bradley became this year's Gelson Fernandes: a rock in the middle also eminently capable of pushing forward when the time is right. He played extremely well both with Rigoni and in Luca's place, which was very valuable considering the start-and-stop nature of Rigoni's season. Mikey's goal against Catania was probably my last moment of pure joy this season.
Honorable Mentions: PERPARIM HETEMAJ & RINALDO CRUZADO

Biggest Flop: KAMIL VACEK
This goes almost without saying, but I'll say it again. When you shell out the most money in your club's history for a player and in his first year, you receive oneexemplary performance in the Coppa Italia, that's not good. When the clearest memory a devoted blogger has of his season involves him blocking a shot with his face and passing out, that's worse. Rinaldo Cruzado began to show us what Sartori was so excited about towards season's end; here's hoping Vacek "pulls a Thereau" and shows us his mettle in 2012-13.
Honorable Mentions: BOJAN JOKIC & FERNANDO URIBE

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Since I'm a teacher by weekday, I'll take care of the rest of the squad through classic letter grades. In parentheses, find their average match rating from me, and note that grades also encompass what we may have expected out of a "student". I'd love nothing more than to debate these, so fire away with your own in the comments!

A+   Cyril Thereau (6.34 in 16 matches)

A     Stefano Sorrentino (6.34 in 19 matches)
        Francesco Acerbi (6.44 in 8 matches)
        Marco Andreolli (6.27 in 11 matches)
        Perparim Hetemaj (6.31 in 16 matches)
        Luca Rigoni (6.30 in 15 matches)

A-    Boukary Drame (6.17 in 12 matches)
        Michael Bradley (6.14 in 18 matches)

B+   Bostjan Cesar (6.13 in 12 matches)
        Luciano (6.00 in 11 matches)

B-    Sergio Pellissier (6.09 in 16 matches)
        Alberto Paloschi (6.00 in 13 matches)
        Davide Moscardelli (6.00 in 12 matches)
        Rinaldo Cruzado (5.88 in 12 matches)
        Paolo Sammarco (5.85 in 13 matches)
        Nicolas Frey (5.74 in 17 matches)

C-    Bojan Jokic (5.72 in 9 matches; lost his job)

D     Kamil Vacek (5.50 in 7 matches)

INCOMPLETE
        Christian Puggioni (A for his work in Coppa Italia)
        Dario Dainelli, Davide Mandelli, Santiago Morero (B in limited playing time at center back)
        Gennaro Sardo (B- in oft-interrupted season... get well soon, Rino!)
        Fernando Uribe (C in limited playing time)

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I'll finish up Chievo's Season-In-Review with a Top Ten Goals List. In a season where we (a) scored fewer goals than any team besides Cesena, and (b) had a curious lack of scoring from our midfielders and defenders (just 10; only Sammarco and Rigoni had more than one), this year's list ends up dominated by the forwards and includes a few "groups" that were all very similar.

#10 -- Sergio Pellissier, the goal thief!: On four separate occasions, Sergio managed to pip goals by stealing a backpass or robbing a defender blind. Nicolas Spolli (victimized in both games against Catania) still has nightmares about the penalties he gave up, while Fiorentina and Lecce both gave up early goals on their homegrounds due to the opportunistic valdostano. Against Lecce, the thievery led to an assist for Paloschi.
#9 -- Gennaro Sardo (vs. Cagliari 2-1): Setting a theme, Rino finishes off an excellent counterattack by popping up where you'd never expect a right back (other than him) to be: closing down the far post.
#8 -- Luca Rigoni (vs. Fiorentina 1-0): A cool finish to break Chievo goal-drought and give the clivensi their first win in over a month. He uses his chest to push the ball past an onrushing Artur Boruc, then slides it into the net. He added insult to injury by scoring the game-winner at Fiorentina later this season.
#7 -- Sergio Pellissier (@ Palermo 4-4): From here on out, it's all strikers. It only took nine months, but we finally got a classic Sergio finish off an excellent Cruzado lob. Il Capitano nearly has a patent on the diagonal ball from the right.
#6 -- Alberto Paloschi (vs. Catania 3-2): A solid counterattacking move finds Sergio in an unselfish mood, threading the ball between two defenders to a barely-onside Paloschi. One tasty keeper-dribble later, Alberto's got the eventual game-winner.
#5 -- Sergio Pellissier (vs. Genoa 2-1): My favorite Sergio tally of the season, a powerful header off a Bradley corner that atoned for an early PK miss. Who knows where he finds that height...
#4 -- Davide Moscardelli (vs. Napoli 1-0): If you don't let Mosca think, holy crap can he wail on the ball. Here, Davide punches a Fideleff error past De Sanctis for Chievo's first win on the season.
#3 -- Davide Moscardelli (vs. Genoa 2-1): And the next week, he'd steal number two with an acrobatic diving header on 93 minutes. What's not to love?!
#2 -- Alberto Paloschi (@ Udinese 1-2): I feel weird ranking a meaningless goal so highly, but it was a thing of beauty. A dipping drive for the upper ninety that shocks Handanovic and reopened a seemingly finished match. We'll miss you, Alberto...
#1 -- Cyril Thereau on the Counterattack: Cyril finished off three brilliant team goals this year, and I can't choose... here they are!

1a -- vs. Novara 2-2 (lob from Rigoni, speed and cross from Hetemaj, dummy from Sergio, scuffed but effective finish from Thereau)
1b -- @ Novara 2-1 (nifty run from Sergio, lob for Sammarco, nice cutback for Thereau)
1c -- @ Bologna 2-2 (robbery by Hetemaj, penetrating ball to Sergio, cross to far post for unmarked Thereau)

What an insane, exhilirating, confusing and ultimately frustrating match for our gialloblu’. Down two goals twenty minutes in and up two goals with twenty left to play, Chievo were forced to settle for a bitter share of the spoils in the highest scoring match I’ve ever witnessed involving the team*. The captains led the way with Sergio Pellissier netting his first brace of the season while Fabrizio Miccoli picked up a hat trick, although at least two of those goals carried some doubts.

Early on, it was all Palermo, and I might have shut the match off at halftime if Chievo hadn’t responded somehow. First, Giulio Migliaccio threw himself to the ground between Rigoni and Vacek, earning a penalty that Miccoli slotted home. Nine minutes later, came the raddoppio as a Migliaccio header found Miccoli waiting at the penalty spot to chest down and punch his shot to the far post.

Just as things seemed headed towards a depressing non-game, Chievo earned an equally dubious penalty on a handball (I can be even-handed on this, see?). Pellissier employed a nifty stutter-step to send Viviano left while slotting it to the right for the first clivense goal in over 500 minutes and a 2-1 deficit. Moments later, surprise starter Fernando Uribe tallied his first definitive Serie A goal to even the encounter after an excellent control of Cruzado’s layoff**. We’d go to halftime level after a few other Uribe chances went by the boards.

At halftime, Luciano entered for Hetemaj, and that decision paid off within 20 seconds! Uribe picked up a loose ball on the left wing, took one touch and slid a ball to the edge of the six-yard box, where the ageless Brazilian shielded his man and scored for the first time in over three seasons! Around the half-hour mark, Chievo seemed to seal an unlikely victory when Cruzado fed a looping ball to Pellissier who coolly beat Viviano from about eight yards for his second of the match and eighth of the season.***

And then… everything went sideways. First, Miccoli was found by inspired lob by Donati, and converted the chance with an equally sensational volley. The problem? HE WAS OFFSIDE!! Was it millimetrico? Sure. Does that make it any less true? Nope! This may have been canceled out by a blatant penalty that should have been called on a Cesar handball, but it still got Palermo back into the game earlier than I might have liked.

And then, there’s the incident that cost Chievo any shot at the 50-point barrier this season. In the final moments, an apparent goal-kick was called back after a very sportsmanlike Francesco Acerbi admitted having touched the ball out the back, leading the ref to award Palermo a corner. Of course, having thought that Sorrentino would be hoofing it deep, Chievo’s midfielders had already vacated for the center stripe. Palermo, rather than being equally sporting and giving Chievo a chance to adjust to the change and set up, took the corner hurriedly and punched the cross into the back of the net for the equalizer. What a crappy way to lose two points.

I listened to this one with Antolini and only saw highlights, so I can’t really give match ratings, but the drama was still palpable, and pretty remarkable for a late-season match between two safe teams. I hope we have as much fun with Lecce next week. In that match, we may well get a say in who goes down to Serie B this season; the giallorossi have to win and hope for Genoa to fall to this same Palermo side at the Marassi. All I’m really hoping for is to see a Chievo side that honors the moment; if Di Carlo puts out Grandolfo and Uribe in the attack, I’ll be a little pissed.

Speaking of Serie B, that race is really heating up! Chievo’s crosstown rivals, Hellas Verona, are poised to take a stab at promotion, currently sitting just a point back of second-place Pescara and with a promotion playoff spot assured at the very least. I certainly am not a fan of them being successful, but at the same time, I missed out an important part of the fan experience by coming around to Chievo when I did: Il Derby della Scala! The Verona derby hasn’t taken place since 2003 when Hellas were relegated, and I, for one, would be pretty excited to get a chance to experience it in some way. It would at least be a consolation if we’re going to have to deal with the rather insufferable helladini in the top-flight…

Until next time, when we close the book on 2011-12, Forza Ceo!

*While Chievo put up four on Messina and five on Spezia in Serie B, the last time they nabbed four in Serie A was in Spring 2006 in a 4-4 draw with Roma, just a few months before I became a fan.

**Uribe’s first came last year against Juventus and may have actually belonged to Luca Rigoni. I’ve yet to see a replay that clearly shows whose foot pushed it over the line.

***For all my certainty that Moscardelli, then Paloschi would dethrone il capitano, it was Thereau that was level with him until this week, and it looks like Sergio will lead us in scoring yet again. That will make it six years in a row!

The last televised Chievo match of the season? A match that could assure us salvezza (with a draw) or allow us to top last season’s point total (with a win)? A chance to permanently derail Roma’s roller coaster of a season? Well, I have to journal this one, don’t I?

The European dream, while unrealistic for a few weeks now, has become an arithmetic impossibility for the gialloblu’. By contrast, the capital side has only recently fallen off the pace. Their weekend draw against Fiorentina left them four points adrift of the four-team logjam at 55 points. They are a team that has struggled to find their identity past “Totti’s team”, and as such you never quite know what you’ll get from them.

Roma is, with absolute certainty, a team that Chievo have struggled mightily against since I became a fan. The clivensi have managed to take a point off them on several occasions – most notably the first and last times I’ve witnessed them face off at the Bentegodi – but they have never defeated the giallorossi. In fact, in my six years supporting Chievo, Roma shares this honor with just three other teams that we’ve played more than once: Mantova and Rimini in Serie B and AC Milan in Serie A. At least for me, today has the potential to be historic!

Chievo will be experiencing a little turnover in the side after a painfully boring 0-0 draw in Trieste against a displaced Cagliari, especially in view of the late injuries to Thereau and Drame’:

Sorrentino, Sardo, Cesar, Acerbi, Jokic; Rigoni, Hetemaj, Bradley; Cruzado; Pellissier, Paloschi

A little confusion between Simone and Gazzetta.it, as the site show Curci starting in goal while Simone has provided us with:

Lobont; Angel, Heinze, Kjaer, Taddei; Gago, De Rossi, Marquinho; Totti; Borini, Bojan

We’ll see once the Fox Soccer video feed starts in two minutes… and it looks like the Gazzetta is correct; Curci it is. Holy crap, it is pouring in Verona. Last time we went up against Roma under these conditions, we managed a 2-2 draw with a couple of weird-ass goals by Moscardelli and Granoche.

1’ – Wow, the ball is landing like a lawn dart every so often. This is going to fun… or awful.
2’ – First cross of the match is from Roma and well off target.
5’ – First free kick earned by Pellissier, fouled quite possibly by a puddle. Nothing doing on the deep launch by Cruzado, who moments later upends himself trying to cross into the middle.
7’ – Short passing is not working for Roma, as the ball keeps dying unpredictably in various parts of the field. This might be the game to start launching the ball downfield for Pellissier, just in case one stops cold and lets him go one-on-one with Curci.
10’ – And just like that, Paloschi and Cruzado nearly end up sprung by a long hoof down the pitch. Moments later, Kjaer does well to shield off Paloschi on another long launch.
16’ – It’s particularly the right side of Chievo’s defensive third that is waterlogged, and Roma’s attack is getting stopped dead there. We’d better do something on our end before we get stuck playing there for the final 45 minutes. Meanwhile, Sardo threads a nice pass down the right flank for Pellissier, whose cross is blocked by the Roma defense.
22’ – A sliding Cesar opens things up for Fabio Borini on the left wing. When his cross is dealt with, Marquinho lets loose a rip from the edge of the box blocked by Hetemaj.
26’ – First big chance for Chievo! Paloschi is launched on goal by a Bradley through-ball, but Curci leaps to his right to stop Alberto’s shot. A follow-up attack results in a floating cross from Pellissier cleared off the head of Jokic at the far post. Things starting to get interesting as the gialloblu’ begin to convert their defensive dominion to counterattacking chances.
31’ – Jokic takes a whack to the face from Borini but seems that he’ll be alright.
37’ – Rigoni picks up a yellow card for chopping down Bojan Krkic in mid-flight down the left wing. Could have been worse. Totti’s shot from a seemingly impossible angle was deflected over the bar by the Chievo defense, while from the corner, Krkic misses wide.
40’ – Hetemaj sprung by a Rigoni through-ball is closed down again by an active Curci and can’t regain his balance fast enough to put in a cross on the keeper-less goal. Curci is thus far the man of the match for me, with Cruzado, Kjaer and Hetemaj just behind.
42’ – Pellissier is put on goal by Paloschi but charged down by Kjaer! The defelction is just high and to the right. Cruzado takes the post-corner developments down the right side of the box and his cross is just snagged by Curci.
45’ – Acerbi goes on a bit of a walkabout, risking a Roma counterattack when his pass is blocked, but Cesar and Sorrentino handle it. That’ll do it for the first half. Chievo seemed to figure out how to construct an attack in these conditions a little bit quicker than Roma. My hope, of course, is that this had more to do with our adaptability and tactics than with the side of the field we were attacking in. We’ll find out in 15 minutes, won’t we?

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Fox Soccer rejoins the Bentegodi looking at the groundskeepers trying to give the field a little bounce. The players are back out on the field ready to battle the elements again. Thus far, the answer to my “fun… or awful” question has been a pretty resounding “awful”, but we all know what would take care of that for me. Y’know, that thing? We haven’t done it in almost 450 minutes? Would make Antolini self-combust? Yeah, that thing.

46’ – Junior Tallo enters for Krkic. In the first twenty seconds, Chievo show a lot more danger in front of the goal facing the North Side than Roma did for the whole first half. Tallo, for the record, is a Chievo youth product, found in Africa as a teenager.
49’ – A long skipping ball finds Pellissier just offside, although it wound up just long anyhow. Chievo definitely agrees with my first half advice regarding a midfield bypass to spring the strikers… it only has to work once.
50’ – A scary moment as Tallo dispossessed Acerbi at the back, but Borini scuffed his shot from distance.
53’ – Holy hell, a backpass to Sorrentino dies in a puddle, nearly creating a chance for Totti. Luckily, Stefano is as alert as Curci has been. Moments later, a HUGE sliding challenge by Cesar at the edge of the box to deny Marquinho a chance. The Brazilian earns a yellow card in retaliation as he slides through Paloschi.
58’ – Rigoni puts it in the back of an empty net on a Pellissier assist after Sergio was sent clear by a Bradley through-ball… but everything is stopped by a dubious offside call on the captain. Grrrrrrrr… That could end up being a major talking point later. They showed the replay once, and it looked like it may have been the right call, but I’d love to see it again.
61’ – Sardo picks up a yellow for a late “slip ‘n’ slide” challenge on Jose Angel.
64’ – A series of outstanding sliding challenges by Rigoni and Hetemaj nearly completes a counterattack launched by a long Sorrentino hoof and an alert Pellissier service. Luca, renowned for his ability to break our goal-scoring droughts appears to be cheating forward in these last ten minutes… interesting…
68’ – A nice counterattack for Roma is wasted by Marquinho’s cross/shot. Meanwhile, Kjaer leaves to make room for another Chievo ex, Simone Perrotta. Chievo seem almost ready to insert Nando Uribe into the attack.
69’ – Bradley drives from 25 yards, bringing an excellent save out of Curci. The rebound is controlled with Paloschi bearing down.
71’ – Nando Uribe enters for Paloschi just after Sardo shoots wide from distance.
72’ – The midfield connections between Cruzado, Bradley and Rigoni are getting tighter. As I’m typing that, Cruzado finds Hetemaj with a brilliant cross-field pass to the left. Perpa cuts it onto his right foot and bends a shot just wide of the far post.
74’ – Tallo tries an Ibra-ish curving shot from 20 yards but doesn’t get enough bend on it.
75’ – Cruzado does well to control a ball headed for touch, but his cross ends up right at Curci. Moments later, Totti cranks a central shot from distance right at Sorrentino.
77’ – Hetemaj takes a whack from Totti off the ball (thug!) and remains on the ground clutching his head.
78’ – Kamil Vacek enters for Mikey. This would be a lovely time for him, Rinaldo, Fernando or Perpa to score their first goals of the season… or all four of them…
80’ – Last change for Roma now, as Fabio Simplicio enters for Marquinho.
81’ – OOF! Vacek is on the ground having just taken an Angel cross to the face. Meanwhile, Sammarco prepares to enter, but will wait for now.
83’ – Last change for Chievo, as Paolo Sammarco replaces Rinaldo Cruzado (man of the match for me)… and Perrotta nearly gives Roma the lead with a looping header that beats Sorrentino but finishes just wide of the right post.
85’ – Pellissier launched down the left wing is totally wiped out by Daniele De Rossi at the edge of the area. No foul given by Banti. WTF?! Meanwhile Uribe picks up a yellow card for an off-the-ball incident. Moments later, Gago picks up one for a studs-up follow-through on a Hetemaj clearance.
89’ – Totti throws an elbow at Hetemaj who has to have absorbed three or four yellow-card fouls today. He’s gonna be sore.
90’ – Pellissier watches another huge change go up in smoke!! Sardo’s cross was touched away by Roma, but only as far as the captain, who slipped on the wet ground as he shot and missed high. Could have been a proper party, but if we can hold on for a few more minutes, we’ll have an eleventh season in Serie A to celebrate…
91’ – Four minutes of stoppage. Vacek beats one man, but not the second in the penalty area.
92’ – Vacek is on the ground with an ice bag on his head… didn’t see what happened there, but it will add a minute to our stoppage time, at least. On the replay, it looks like he fainted, possibly feeling the effects of that hit ten minutes earlier.
95’ – Perhaps a minute to go and Chievo will have their safety with another 0-0. Last chance for Roma with a throw-in from the left. Gago’s shot goes well wide to the right.
96’ – SALVEZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! A well-played match despite the conditions, but I feel a little cheated. I’m going to go take a look at that goal we had wiped out to calibrate that feeling…

… okay, that wasn’t as close as Simone thought. A win was nearly deserved but unbelievably Chievo haven’t scored in 495 minutes, so this is as good as it gets without a goal. We still need one more result to try to top last season, and a pair of victories over Palermo and Lecce would put us over 50 for the first time since 2005-06. Onward to the weekend!

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Match Ratings
Sorrentino 6; Sardo 5.5, Cesar 6, Acerbi 6.5, Jokic 6.5; Bradley 6 (Vacek s.v.), Rigoni 6.5, Hetemaj 6; Cruzado 7 (Sammarco s.v.); Pellissier 6, Paloschi 5.5 (Uribe 5.5)

Curci 7; Angel 6, Heinze 6, Kjaer 6.5 (Perrotta 5.5), Taddei 6; Gago 5.5, De Rossi 6, Marquinho 5.5 (Simplicio 6); Totti 5.5; Borini 5, Bojan 6 (Tallo 6.5)

I’m not sure I’d ever been in the situation of finding a 0-0 draw more entertaining than a match in which a goal was actually scored before today. After this morning’s match in Bergamo, I certainly have been now. After drawing and losing a pair of matches they clearly deserved to win, Chievo succumbed to Atalanta in the rain, putting up a pretty pitiful fight.

It was a game of miscalibrated touches, tentativeness from normally lethal strikers and fouls galore, capped by one moment of brilliance from the tiniest man on the match, Maxi Moralez. There was something terribly wrong with each compartment of the Chievo side Mimmo Di Carlo put out. The defense line was, of course, hamstrung by the early exit of Marco Andreolli with an ankle injury that sure looks like it will end his campaign. But the backline was torn apart by the combination of Moralez, Bonaventura, and my pick for man of the match, Schelotto. Drame’, in particular was a dreadful foul and giveaway machine, but no one else fared much better. Dainelli committed a few silly fouls, including one that will cost him the weekend match “at Cagliari” (actually in Trieste), while Cesar tried desperately to hold down the fort. Frey was a little better in defense but joined Bradley in supplying an endless parade of overhit crosses.

In the midfield, Bradley was most disappointing, as his usually solid delivery from setpieces was nowhere to be found, compromising a few decent early runs of corner-earning play for the clivensi. Rigoni acquitted himself decently in the middle, but was removed for Hetemaj just after halftime, a move I just couldn’t understand unless it was fatigue-related. Vacek or Bradley would have made more sense to take off at that point, as neither had gotten into the flow of the game, even if Vacek did nearly give Chievo the lead on an improvised snapshot late in the first half. The only real bright spot today was Cyril Thereau who ran endlessly from side to side trying to create something up front. Cruzado started out alright, earning a few free kicks and spring Sergio once or twice, but subsequently faded into the background.

Up front, Pellissier was either offside, off target or off his game every time the midfield did manage to find him. In particular, the 3-on-2 authored led by Thereau was horribly squandered by the captain as he took one (maybe two) too many touches before attempting to shoot. A more decisive finish might have put Chievo in front and dramatically changed today’s story. And all that from the best-rested player on the pitch, considering his weekend suspension. Very frustrating.

It must be said, Atalanta are an exciting side with a few players that can be counted as the classic uomo in piu’ on a relegation battler in Schelotto, Denis and Moralez. They kept our boys on the back foot, and – were it not for their financial penalty at season’s start – would actually be sitting level with Inter on 49 points right now, just a point out of Europe. They were substantially better than their mid-table status makes them seem, but Chievo just got done making AC Milan and Udinese look pedestrian. The turnover may have broken our rhythm, but it was our steadiest players today (Drame’, Bradley, Pellissier) that really looked awful today.

Time to chalk it up and get ready to face a crisis-ridden Cagliari at the Nereo Rocco stadium on Saturday. Could it be a chance to make a road game feel like a home one? C’mon you NorthSiders! You’ve certainly got a shorter trip to make than the Sardinians do! A victory over the isolani would match last season’s point total, leaving us with three matches to better it and perhaps hit the magical 50-point plateau for the first time in six years.

Today’s Chievo-Udinese match is a fixture that is close to my heart. In 2006, it was in this match that Chievo earned their first victory with me as a fan – in bloody November of that cursed season – and I count it as the day I realized this club really had its claws in me (see the first post in this blog for details on that).

On top of that, two and a half years later, it was in this fixture that I saw my lovely girl really get sucked in to this team. Chievo went down late in the first half on a soft PK given against Mario Yepes, then spent the first 30 minutes of the second half laying an all-out assault on the Udinese goal. When Pellissier finally headed in the equaliser, the camera shot to an unusually emotional Di Carlo, and when I turned to L’Acca Bomba, she was just as excited and loud as Mimmo. Chievo ended up losing on a late D’Agostino goal and my girl had to lay down for the last 10 minutes because the prior half-hour had made her so tense that her legs were aching.

Today, however, the zebrette visited with a heavy heart following the loss of Piermario Morosini last week, and his former teammates there and in Verona (Andreolli & Paloschi) no doubt dedicated the match to “Moro”. Lots of nostalgia and emotion in this one… whew, onward to the match.

It was all Chievo in the first, as the Mussi Volanti came out launching from distance in the first few minutes with Bradley beating Handanovic and being denied his second goal in Italy by an overzealous right post (seriously, post, no one paid to see you make saves!). There were claims for a PK against Udinese after a slicing Bradley run appeared to lead to a handball in the area. Later on Cruzado and Bradley combined very well to leave Mikey unmarked eight yards out, only to fire straight at Handanovic, while Cruzado brought a much tougher save on the Udinese #1 in the aftermath.

Nearly at the end of the first half, Chievo seemed to be ready to break through as Bradley (who else?) threaded through an excellent pass for Thereau to run on to. Cyril ticked it away from an onrushing Handanovic, absorbed the foul and claimed the penalty kick. Unfortunately, with Sergio in the stands on suspension due to “swearing in the locker room” last week after Chievo-Milan, it fell to Cyril to also attempt the penalty, and he struck it low and a little too central. A bit too easy for a keeper of Handanovic’s class.

Chievo opened the second half in much the same vein, immediately testing the Udinese defense with an articulate Paloschi flick that saw Cruzado fire just wide of the right post. At the 65th minute, a blocked Dainelli pass led to Di Natale’s first real chance to wreak havoc, and the two center backs hassled him enough to induce him to fire his curler wide from the middle of the box. The next twenty minutes brought little to report save for an unsettling tendency for the referee Peruzzo to whistle a foul every time Floro Flores hit the deck. Di Carlo changed shape and inserted the youngster, Grandolfo, but at the end of the day the story will be “what could have been had Bradley’s early shot been six inches further left or Thereau could have converted the penalty”. Or for that matter, if Sergio hadn’t been suspended for swearing. And as if to accentuate that “knife’s edge” situation, Di Natale nearly played a particularly cruel joke on us by hammering a volley shot just over the bar in late stoppage time. Heart in my throat, guys!

It seems borderline criminal for Chievo to get just a point out of the convincing performances of the last two matches, but lack of finishing will get you every time. The gialloblu’ play next on Tuesday, recovering the match cancelled last weekend in Bergamo against Atalanta before heading to Trieste to face Cagliari.

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CHIEVO MATCH RATINGS

Stefano Sorrentino 6 – Went the entire first hour without being tested. Managed a swerving Di Natale free kick despite the coating of moss that had started to develop by then, and then came up large on a dangerous volley from the captain.

Nicolas Frey 6 – Udinese never threatened down their left, so I can’t complain!

Dario Dainelli 6.5 – Lots of intent on the offensive end, and very solid at the back, including a great job to shield off Armero on Udinese’s best first half chance.

Francesco Acerbi 6.5 – Dealt with Di Natale & company very well. Might be the most exciting and terrifying player on the side when breaking through the middle of the opposing midfield… terrifying for me, I mean.

Boukary Drame 6 – Less than exhilirating in the first half, he started come on immediately after the break, combining beautifully with Bradley and Thereau on the left

Luciano 6.5 – Quick like a bunny, accurate like a dart-thrower with a mild case of cataracts. On the whole, though, a quite positive effect on the match, nearly firing home a scorcher after Thereau’s PK miss. As the second half wore one, though he began really struggling to find that final ball after getting released beautifully by Cruzado or Paloschi.

(SUB 68’) Paolo Sammarco 5.5 – Not much of an impact on the match

Luca Rigoni 6 – Didn’t much notice him, but he seemed to hold down the fort. Udinese’s midfield struggled to connect, and I never ended up yelling “LUCA!?” like I did repeatedly with Luciano.

Michael Bradley 7 – Really active throughout the match, leading the breaks and hitting the post with a long strike in the fourth, earning an (unfortunately unconverted) PK with his perfectly weighted pass to Thereau in the 42’. Only blemish was squandering a great chance prior to that by firing straight at Handanovic from eight yards.

Rinaldo Cruzado 6 – Selfish at first, he grew throughout the first half contributing a few excellent potential assists and bringing Handanovic’s best save of the first half out of him. Had a number of chances fall to him and just couldn’t quite make them stick. We’ll call this a “6-minus”.

(SUB 80’) Bostjan Cesar s.v. – A change I’m in favor of, as it allows the ever-exciting Acerbi and opportunistic Rigoni to surge forward with fresh energy.

Cyril Thereau 6 – Generally capable. Half-point up for earning the penalty, half-point back down for botching it. Not really his thing, I suppose.

Alberto Paloschi 6 – Serviceable, although he frustratingly scuffed the best chance he had in the first half, firing wide left from the top of the box on what seemed like a very paloschish chance. Starting playing assist-man in the second half to nice effect, though Cruzado failed to capitalize on the best chance.

(SUB 87’) Francesco Grandolfo s.v. – His Chievo debut, at last.

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UDINESE: Handanovic 7; Benatia 6, Danilo 5.5, Coda 5 (Ekstrand 6); Basta 5.5 (Abdi sv), Fernandes 5.5, Pazienza 6, Asamoah 6, Armero 6; Di Natale 6; Barreto 5 (Floro Flores 6)

Man, our boys in yellow and blue deserved better tonight.  In the middle of the pitch, Chievo owned this match, with Bradley getting into the passing lanes and springing counter-attacks, while Luca Rigoni seemed determined to outdo Mikey at every turn.  That's the kind of in-house competition I can get behind.  The only blight on Rigoni's game was the "penalty in motion" late in the first half that he guided just past the right post.

In our defensive third, Francesco Acerbi canceled out Zlatan Ibrahimovic beautifully, allowing the Turbo Serbo-Swede just once chance to put my heart into my throat (missed wide this time, thank heavens).  The clivensi gave up but a single shot on goal, but that shot was Sulley Muntari's guided missile in the eight minute, and Sorrentino never had a chance on it.

Up front, Chievo created quite a bit over the course of the match.  There was Rigoni's unfortunate miss and Pellissier bringing an absolute miracle out of Abbiati off an early-second half corner kick.  And that doesn't count the three major episodes of the match, which I will quickly address:

• Paloschi's disallowed goal in the first half:  A really beautiful piece of work by Paloschi, but I can't argue with the decision.  It was millimetrico, as they say in Italy, but it was right.

• The penalty not given: Kills me to admit it, but Nesta's handball came on a flick-on by an offside Thereau.  Simone and I were absolutely livid when it happened... L'Acca Bomba likes to joke about my tendency when fouls are given against (or not given in favor of) Chievo: "MA NOOOOOOOOO!!?!?!  YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING!!  THAT WAS BLATANT!  NETTISSIMOOO!!! THESE REFS ARE CROOKED, AND IT'S A CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE PICCOLI, I SWEAR TO--" *replay is shown on the screen*  "...Oh, how about that... never mind."

• Acerbi's disallowed equalizer in the 95th:  Clearly offside, no debate necessary, though if any finds the heart that dropped out of my chest after the flag went up, please mail it to Clivus Caputmundi, 31 Gialloblu' Way, El Cerrito, CA, USA.  I have no idea where it would up...

At the end of the day, Milan played scared but they're good enough to get away with it.  Chievo played brilliantly, but couldn't finish a chance (at least not legally).  And we're not good enough to get away with that, unfortunately.  For now, to keep the European dream alive, we become Napoli, Udinese, Siena and Lecce fans for a day.  A Napoli win helps keep 6th place a Europa League spot, while the two bianconeri could do us a pair of solids by holding Roma and Inter, and Lecce will look to keep their good times rolling against 8th-place Catania.  From there, the focus moves to Bergamo where Chievo will face Atalanta next Sunday.  Forza!!

Chievo took full advantage of a quick start and a 70-minute man advantage to dispatch Catania, albeit with some difficulty despite their utter domination of the gameplay. It's a result that officially relaunches Chievo's European ambitions, finding them just five points back of a self-destructing Roma (4-0 against Lecce?!) for sixth place with seven matches to play. Easy? No. Doable? Ask me again after we face AC Milan on Tuesday...

It was a spectacular start to the match for clivensi, as minutes after Paloschi fluffed a huge opportunity, the very same man received service from Cruzado and cut a cross from the byline back to the penalty spot where Bradley was waiting to guide a shot past Carrizo for his first goal on the peninsula. Ten minutes later with the rain falling in Verona, the slippery Bentegodi surface would cost Nicolas Spolli first his feet, then the rest of his afternoon. The Argentinian defender fell to the ground in his own penalty area, allowing Pellissier to snap up the ball and absorb a shove from the Catania man. Red card for Spolli, penalty for Chievo, and none of the silly tricks on the run-up from Sergio who slotted it smoothly past Carrizo for a 2-0 advantage.

And Chievo looked nearly certain to make the man-advantage stick by finding a third, with Cesar nodding high from a free kick and Paloschi finding the back of the net, albeit from an offside position. And just when things seemed to be settling down, another odd episode reopened the match. Poor Marco Andreolli... when the man does something goofy like deflect an opponent's cross or redirect a Pellissier shot with his ass, the ball ends up in the back of the net (theirs or ours). When he shows real skill and power like he did against Siena, he hits the crossbar and gets his goal vultured by Acerbi. The own goal reawakened both sides, as first Catania would threaten an equalizer with a shot/cross from Alejandro Gomez (the creator of the own goal, as well). Later, Chievo would counterattack beautifully, setting up Rigoni to try an audacious hell-flick from six yards out, while a few minutes after that, Luciano would send a 45th-minute Pellissier cross goalwards only to see it hit the back of Paloschi.

Catania would try to shore up the defense by replacing Llama with Ciro Capuano at halftime, but it would be down the other flank that Chievo would start attacking with a deep drive for Pellissier from Rigoni. Sergio did nicely to reach the ball, cut his run to the middle and slip a pass through the two center defenders for a just-onside Paloschi who, after a quick cha-cha-cha around Carrizo, punched home a deserved goal.

For the next half-hour, it was all Chievo as a dispirited, exhausted Catania struggled just to get the ball out of their own end and the gialloblu' repeatedly threatened a fourth. Somehow, despite nine Chievo defenders packing the box, Catania would manage to find a second goal with Gomez's cross eluding a forest of yellow shirts to find Sergio Almiron at the far post to poke the ball past Sorrentino. It was "too little, too late", though, as Chievo closed out the final ten minutes to take home all three points. On to the pagella!

PLAYER RATINGS
STEFANO SORRENTINO 6: Blameless on the own goal, a little tentative of Almiron's. I'll give the half-point back for an excellent save on Izco's close shot around the hour mark.

NICOLAS FREY 6.5: Llama was a non-factor in the first half, and that was due to Nico's secure work at the back. Combined well with Luciano and Rigoni to spring counters all day long, and even threatened his first goal after 4 years with the Chievo shirt, shooting wide from a Pellissier feed.

MARCO ANDREOLLI 6: Scored Catania's first goal for them, awkwardly knocking Gomez's cross over his own keeper. Showed some nerves after both opposition goals, making my stomach do flips in each of those five-minute periods. Otherwise, very solid, actually. I'll go with a weighted average of the 6.5 for most of the match and the 5 I want to give him for that handful of minutes.

BOSTJAN CESAR 6: Solid at the back, and even threatened a little up front on set pieces. Good performance replacing Acerbi.

BOUKARY DRAME' 5.5: A bit less rambunctious than his usual self, he struggled to shut down Alejandro Gomez, the only real threat Catania posed during the first half.

SUB 60' GENNARO SARDO 6.5: Immediate threat down the right after Frey switched sides to cover the injured Drame'.

LUCIANO 7: Huge goal-line clearance in the 13th, and spent most of the match being an absolute pest and running hard down the right. Quite unlucky not to score at the end of the first half on an aggressive near post run.

LUCA RIGONI 6.5: Solid launching pad for the Chievo counter attack, getting forward occasionally as well, his appetite for the goal no doubt whetted by last week's late winner in Florence. Sprang the action leading to Paloschi's tally.

MICHAEL BRADLEY 6.5: Cool as a cucumber in the 7th minute, passing Paloschi's assist right to the far post for his first tally in gialloblu'. Kept a steady hand on the midfield steering wheel and put in dangerous set-pieces throughout the match.

RINALDO CRUZADO 6.5: Very nice work throughout to find the passing lanes, springing Paloschi for the assist on the opener, and to aggressively seek out loose balls and the occasional cannon-shot from distance. A big improvement over last week's game.

SUB 64' PERPARIM HETEMAJ 6: Midfield didn't miss a beat after his entry.

ALBERTO PALOSCHI 8: Incandescent! Made up for an astonishing 2nd-minute error that could have conditioned his entire game by immediately assisting Bradley's goal with a beautiful cutback cross. Was a continual thorn in the side of the Catania offside trap throughout the match, and finally got the goal he so richly deserved at the start of the second half, dancing deftly around Carrizo.

SUB 73' CYRIL THEREAU 6: Hit the crossbar a minute after he came in. Otherwise, simply did what was asked.

SERGIO PELLISSIER 7.5: Opportunistic yet again to rob Spolli in the penalty area, and cool as you like converting the penalty that resulted. I hate to say it, though, the penalty looked like it might have been a dive. I'll consider it karmic recompense, remembering how often Sergio is mauled without a call. Later threaded a perfect pass for Paloschi to make it 3-1.

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CATANIA: Carrizo 6; Motta 6 (Lanzafame sv), Legrottaglie 5.5, Spolli 4, Marchese 5.5; Izco 5.5, Lodi 5.5, Ricchiuti 5.5 (Almiron 6); Gomez 6.5, Bergessio 5.5, Llama 5.5 (Capuano 5)

Despite a few heavy absences and a threatened repeat of the script from the last two weeks, the clivensi rallied to take all three points in the final minutes through their "old guard", Sergio Pellissier and Luca Rigoni. 

We already knew Paolo Sammarco (yellow cards) and Francesco Acerbi (muscle strain) would be out of this one, but in the run up to kick-off our chief playmaker, Cyril Théréau also had to bow out, leaving Rinaldo Cruzado as our only qualified healthy #10.  Additionally, the injuries to Nando Uribe and Davide Moscardelli left our bench thinned out, and it may not be long before either Radoslav Kirilov or Francesco Grandolfo get their Chievo Serie A debuts (Kirilov has appeared in a pair of Coppa Italia matches for the gialloblú, and Grandolfo debuted in Serie A last year with Bari, so the qualifiers are necessary).

I missed the first 15 minutes suffering from a little morning stomach discomfort, but what I saw when I came back looked disjointed on both sides with Chievo seeming to control possession a little better.  At the 23-minute mark, though, a little soccer karma came back around as Pellissier did his best Mattia Destro impression, intercepting a Cesare Natali backpass and galloping around Artur Boruc to slot home for a Chievo lead. 

The Chievo defense locked down from then until halftime, creating a few chances on the offensive end for Pellissier.  Meanwhile, the referee got a little too involved for my liking, spraying yellow cards all over the spine of our defense while somehow pardoning Riccardo Montolivo's continued fouls.  How we kept our heads, I don't understand, but I'm sure glad we did.

As the second half wore on, the soft fouls continued to be given against our boys, resulting in a series of Fiorentina free kicks from frightening positions.  After a few chances, substitute Adem Ljajić finally converted one with a curling rifle shot into the top left corner.  At this, of course, the script felt painfully familiar: go ahead early, squander a few chances at doubling the lead, then watch the equalizer go in late. 

I must say when Marco Andreolli came in for Cruzado ten minutes later, I thought Di Carlo was packing in the troops to hold onto the road point for dear life.  But his tactics were not what I expected... Andreolli played just in front of Dainelli and Cesar in more of the Rigoni role, while Luca himself pushed forward.  Three minutes from time, this last roll of the dice paid off as Sergio dispossessed Manuel Pasqual and fed an open Alberto Paloschi who crossed to the feet of Rigoni.  No mistake for #16, and our boys take all three points back to Verona, raising our season total to 39 points and a nearly assured salvezza.

Next week, it's a home meeting with Catania who sit one position and four points ahead of our clivensi in eighth place.  Roma are a ways off in sixth place (47 points), while Inter sit seventh.  We'd have a long way to go to catch that last UEFA cup spot, but we've already faced most of the "bigs" for the last time (only home dates with Udinese, Roma and Milan remain).  Otherwise, we get Lecce at home, with visits to Atalanta, Cagliari and Palermo.  A very "boardable" schedule with the chance to knock off our direct adversaries in fifth, sixth and eighth place.  I won't say I like our chances, but I wouldn't put anything past us with seven weeks to 2011/12's final whistle.  Forza ragazzi!

MATCH RATINGS

Stefano Sorrentino 6:  I felt he alligator-armed Ljajic's free kick; otherwise, perfectly fine work.

Nicolas Frey 6:  Stopped the viola cold down the left flank, neutralizing Natali and Vargas for the entire match.

SUB 78' Gennaro Sardo s.v.:  Tough to give him a ranking, since he spent most of his 12 minutes on the ground writhing from one challenge or another.

Bostjan Cesar 6.5:  Combined well with the first-time starter, Dainelli, to deny the gigliati attack even a shot on goal for the first 55 minutes.  Covered Amauri well in the air; the Chievo ex was never a factor.

Dario Dainelli 7:  Did extremely well not to boil over in frustration over the occasionally ridiculous fouls being called against him and the rest of the Chievo defense.  Jovetić was a non-factor for most of the match, and the longtime Fiorentina captain was a big reason why.

Boukary Dramé 6:  Not terribly present going forward, but kept Montolivo and Behrami from creating much.

Luciano 6:  Inventive at times, frustrating at others... copy-paste...

SUB 68' Perparim Hetemaj 5.5:  Didn't light the world on fire the way he frequently does.

Luca Rigoni 6.5:  Broke up Fiorentina's attempts to connect in the midfield and did well to come forward after the defense was expanded.  Clinical run and finish to let Chievo collect all three points for the fourth time in our last six meetings with the viola.

Michael Bradley 6:  A little error-prone in his passing, perhaps still fighting the yips from last week.  Did nicely in breaking up Fiorentina's flow and nearly picked up an assist on a long run from the back and setup for Pellissier.  Solid enough.

Rinaldo Cruzado 5.5:  Still not convincing in what could have been a huge opportunity in relief of Thereau.

SUB 83' Marco Andreolli s.v.:  Though he didn't have time to do much, the substitution freed up Rigoni to start moving forward, indirectly creating the goal at the end.  Good stuff, Mimmo!

Sergio Pellissier 7 (MOTM):  Hard-working and opportunistic.  What a performance from the captain, running hard all game long.  He profited off the Natali error to put Chievo in front early, then robbed Pasqual blind to set up Paloschi's assist and Rigoni's game-winner.

Alberto Paloschi 6.5:  Sufficient and generous, but oddly wasteful in front of goal.  Did very well under pressure to feed Rigoni for the match-winner, though, rescuing an otherwise middling performance.

FIORENTINA:  Boruc 6; Natali 5, Gamberini 6, Pasqual 5, Cassani 6; Montolivo 5.5, Behrami 5.5, Vargas 5, Marchionni 6 (Lazzari 5.5); Amauri 5 (Ljajić 6.5), Jovetić 5.5

It was an eerily familiar story this morning at the Bentegodi, as Chievo drew 1-1 on the back of a fluky first Serie A goal for one of our center defenders, followed by a defensive nap that produced the equalizer from the "Usual Suspect".  Last week, it was Andreolli deflecting in Pellissier's shot with his butt, then Acerbi holding on Donkey-killer Marco Di Vaio to allow the equalizer.  Today it was Acerbi scoring by deflecting a Thereau shot before Bradley gave away a goal to Mattia Destro, who has scored four of his eight career Serie A goals in three matches against Chievo.  The only thing missing today was the "Act II" we saw last week, but it remains a hard pill to swallow.

Before Michael Bradley's error, it was a match that had genuinely belonged to Chievo.  Following the crazy Francesco Acerbi goal (corner from Bradley, Andreolli hits the crossbar with his header, Thereau's follow-up caroms in off Ace's chest), the clivensi took control of possession in the midfield.  They would threaten a few more times in the first half through Pellissier while only allowing Siena a handful of shots from distance.  Unfortunately, as has frequently been the case this season, Chievo couldn't kill the match off by taking full advantage of that superiority, and just after the restart, they would pay for it.

At this point, it's worth quoting a statistic that was floated out today by Sky Calcio.  Today's equalizer was the seventh goal Chievo has given up in the opening ten minutes of a second half.  SEVENTH!  I can't see this as anything but an indictment of Mimmo Di Carlo's halftime adjustments and ability to bring his side the necessary focus coming back out of the gates.  Repeatedly, Chievo have lost momentum at this crucial time and wound up giving a large chunk of the second half to their opponents as they struggle with the psychological hit absorbed in such a case.

Today, the gialloblu' required about 10 minutes to get themselves stabilized, while Bradley and Sammarco seemed particularly shaken, the former disappearing from the match after his shocking giveaway and the latter picking up a yellow card and nearly earning a second with a dive in the box.  It was chiefly Cyril Thereau that picked up the side by the scruffs of their necks and put Chievo back into the match, but it was too little too late. To add misery to the proceedings, we may have lost Davide Moscardelli for a prolonged period as he appeared to badly injure his groin on a leap in the final minutes.

The feeling of two lost points is particularly acute now that 6th place has become a Europa League spot with the Juventus-Napoli Coppa Italia final set.  Roma have slowed a bit and sit on 44 points after their Saturday loss to Milan.  Had Chievo held on to either of the leads the last two weeks, we'd be on 38 points in 9th place... 40 points if we'd won them both.  What could have been a fun four-team battle to the finish among Roma, Inter, Catania and Chievo is increasingly a distant fantasy.  For now, the focus returns to picking up a safety-clinching victory either in Florence next week or at home against Catania the week after.  Until then, forza ragazzi!

CHIEVO PLAYER RATINGS:  Sorrentino 6; Frey 5.5, Andreolli 6.5, Acerbi 6, Drame 6; Sammarco 5 (Vacek sv), Bradley 5.5, Hetemaj 5.5; Thereau 6.5; Paloschi 5 (Moscardelli sv, Cruzado sv), Pellissier 6