Wow, didn't expect the match to turn out that way. Next time, Sampdoria-Juve should played in the evening with special coverage !!
Anyway, it was a very lively contest with fine moves from both teams but was also marred with off the field incidents, including a flying can that hit the back of Buffon's head (but our GK clearly didn't take it too personally looking at his post-match comments), and a Novellino-Lippi bust-up Gangsta' style !!
Good to see Camoranesi back in the team, and what a goal! Great work too from the Golden Nedved, I liked the way he sprayed those inspired passes around as he set-up both of our goals. Conte deserves special mention too as he was battling in midfield and even scored a goal, our old capitano is pretty much still alive and kicking. Del Piero also seems to be showing signs of improvement and is steadily returning to his pre-injury scillinating form, even though he should've done better and killed the match with that chance, early in the second half.
Our problem in defence wasn't rectified during the winter break, as yet another lapse in concentration from our shaky defenders caused an unmarked Flachi to score comfortably. Lippi should really improve our manner in defending to stop conceding goals that way and keep our challenge up. My heart skipped a beat as I watched in relief Buffon save that late Flachi close-range header to spare us the 3 points.
I couldn't understand Doria players' constant bashing with the ref. They were first complaining that Nedved raised his boot to collect the ball leading to the first goal, but so did Zenoni in the same incident and the ball was between them. As for the penalty claims, it's true the ball touched Ciro's hand but it was accidental as he was only protecting his face.
So, courtesy of those 3 points we are still withing touching distance from the leaders (Roma and Milan) who both won today. But let's not forget that in this round Inter and Lazio both drifted away with unexpected defeats, and out of the top 3 we were relatively facing the most difficult opponents, so its not that bad to keep the point differenct intact.
We have now won our second consecutive match since Lecce's draw: Perugia (1-0) and Samp (2-1). We need to bag three more wins against Siena, Empoli, and Chievo before facing Roma in a crunch match.