Puddle's Goal of the Weekend: Totti Bombs Juve

Roma's Francesco Totti defeated Juventus with a screamer goal on Saturday

I haven't highlighted any goals for awhile, which is a shame, because as football fans we all love goals.  That being said, you have to check out this absolute bomb by Roma's Captain Francesco Totti.  He volleyed home this stunner after a blocked free kick in the second half of Saturday's match against Juventus.  It turned out to be the game's only goal.

Serie A: Cagliari Forced to Forfeit Match to Roma

Bad news for fans of Cagliari FC, as their club has been forced to forfeit this last weekend's home match to AS Roma.  The rules governing Italian Football provide for such a sanction, and today it was leveled at the Sardinian side.

The two clubs had been scheduled to play this last weekend's match behind closed doors after Cagliari's new stadium failed to meet safety standards.  The local government and the Italian FA had ordered the match go ahead without fans, but the club president encouraged Season Ticket holders to show up anyway, prompting an emergency meeting between government and club officials.  This meeting resulted in the postponement of the match and today it was announced that it would be forfeited to AS Roma.

Article 17 of the "Federcalcio" provides for this sanction, stating:

"Clubs are responsible for the fact that any acts interrupting the smooth running of a game can be punished with the loss of that match with a scoreline of 0-3 awarded."

 The added points move Roma up to fifth place, and while Cagliari does not drop for now, the 0-3 score will affect their goal difference.

Cagliari abandoned their former stadium last march, and had played the remainder of the 2011-2012 Serie A season at stadium more than 700 miles away from the city.

Michael Bradley Signs With AS Roma

Michael Bradley posing in his new AS Roma attire (MLSSoccer.com)

Big news came down the pipe today for fans of Americans playing in Europe.  US International midfielder Michael Bradley has signed on with Italian Serie A side AS Roma after having a standout year last season with Chievo Verona.

Personal terms were not available right off, but the Roman side did confirm they had paid a 4.6 million dollar transfer fee to Chievo for the American's services.  It's no surprise that Bradley seems to fit well in the defensive minded Serie A, and he should have a big role in settling down Roma's defense. 

According to the club, Bradley was already hard at work training with his new Giallorossi teammates on day one.  The Puddle wishes Michael the best of luck with his new club.  He'll represent the USA well.

Italian Match Thoughts: Parma vs. AS Roma

The first half of this match was a total snoozer. Literally. I had a hard time staying awake. The only two decent chances of the half came in the first 11 minutes. Roma had some nice development play early, and it culminated in a shooting chance for Angel in the 2nd minute. However, he hit it over the bar. Parma had their best chance in the 11th minute when Lucarelli got his head on the ball, but saw his shot also float harmlessly overt the bar.

The half time result was 0-0.

Finally in the 50th minute Roma got on the board. Osvaldo took a nice cross and headed it down, back across the goal into the bottom far post corner to make it 0-1 to Roma. This had the effect of finally opening the match up a little since Parma was now forced to chase the equalizer on their own home pitch.

They should have gotten it too. In the 72nd minute Biabiany came sprinting up the Roma left and had a great look at goal, pretty much a sure thing. He blased the shot wide though, much to the dismay of his two teammates that had made runs into the 18 and could have easily tapped it home had he passed.

After that Jadid tricked a shot just wide off of a Parma corner, but that was all she wrote. Roma took the 0-1 win, and it becomes the first victory for new manager Luis Enrique

Italian Match Thoughts: AS Roma vs. Siena

One other nice thing about having ESPN3, or watch ESPN or whatever they call it now, is that I can watch some of the Serie A matches that Fox Soccer doesn't carry. I was really kind of bummed that Fox wasn't carrying this match, but was very happy to be able to watch it via Interweb.

Through the first few rounds of the Serie A season, we've heard a lot about how Roma is a work in progress. This is true to an extent. They have a new coach and a lot of new faces, they still have a pretty solid squad though, and one wonders how long the "work in progress" excuse will hold when they can't beat teams like Siena at home.

The Romans got off on the right foot though, with a ton of possession in the opening minutes. They looked to be in total control. Totti took a great free kick that sailed high in the 6th minute. About 5 minutes later, Osvaldo had a shot that was barely deflected. Roma was looking good.

However Siena created some chances of their own in the first half, despite being behind on possession. Calaio had a shot blocked off the counter in the 14th, and then just 1 minute later Franco Brienza smacked a glorious header on goal that Lobont just barely knocked away for Roma.

The first half spoils belonged to the Romans though. In the 25th minute they finally capitalized on their possession and development play. Boriello sent a nice ball across the 6 and Osvaldo was there to knock it in. Roma would take their newly acquired 1-0 lead to the half.

Unfortunately for the fans in the capital though, Roma did not quite put on the same display in half number two. A lot of credit has to go to Siena, who worked hard and played well all night. They were very organized on both ends of the pitch, and it really gave Roma fits late.

There were a ton of chances for Siena down the stretch, but they couldn't convert. Finally they got their well deserved equalizer in the 88th minute. Brienza sent a shot in that looked to be a sure equalizer, only to see it rebound off the post. However, defender Roberto Vitiello was in the right place at the right time to smack home the rebound and tie the match at 1-1, which was the full time result.

After the match, a few boos and jeers were heard starting to rain down on the pitch for Roma. Just ask Gasperini, football is a results business. However, Siena fully deserved the point they took from Rome today.

Italian Match Thoughts: AS Roma vs. Cagliari

There are a lot of questions surrounding AS Roma as the new Serie A season kicks off. They've got some new players in the side, and a new coach as well. Their new coach, Luis Enrique has only coached in Spain before, and it's a whole different beast than the Italian Serie A.

Still, for about 2/3 of the match it looked like Roma was the better team. They had the better quality possession and certainly the better chances. Francesco Totti was doing a wonderul job distributing. Osvaldo got a nice header down for the Romans in the 21st minute, only to see it gobbled up by the keeper.

Roma got two quality chances late in the first half. In the 35th minute, Miralem Pjanic smacked a rocket on target but Agazzi held on in goal for Cagliari. Then in the 39th Osvaldo put in another outstanding effort, only to have Agazzi come up with another quality save. The half ended scoreless.

Cagliari had done a lot of their best work on the counter all night. It finally paid off for them in the 68th minute. Conti, the former Roma man, found pay dirt after the Romans failed to get back and organize on defense. 0-1 to Cagliari. Then just a minute later it all went south for Roma as Jose Angel cut down a Cagliari player in frustration and was shown the red card.

The rest of the drama happened in stoppage time. Moestafa El Kabir caught Roma on the counter again and slotted it home from an angle at 90'+4. Daniele De Rossi tallied a consolation goal at 90'+7 on what proved to be the last kick of the match. The full time result was 1-2 to Cagilari. A nice start for them.

Enrique has some work to do, although I don't think the Roma performance was poor by any stretch.

Match Thoughts: Udinese vs. Roma

As far as Serie A goes, I'm an Inter supporter. Despite this, I try to never miss a chance to see Roma play. Why, you ask? Francesco Totti. Totti's history has been rocky to be sure, but he's Roma's talisman, and when he's on, which he was today, he can win you a match.

Things didn't start well for the Giallorossi. Udinese was all over the ball through much of the first half, including a couple really nice chances on goal. Even more unfortunate for Roma, Doni looked really uneasy in goal. He bungled a couple of balls and barely saved a strike from Cassetti that would have resulted in a Roma own goal. One must think that had Udinese had Sanchez in the match, they might have taken advantage of some of these first half chances.

The second half started with the sides still knotted at zero. Udinese jumped on possession again, but Totti and Roma seemed to steel themselves a bit at half time, and started to turn things around. Vucinic in particular missed a glowing chance at goal after fielding a long ball.

Roma finally struck in the 56th minute. Pizarro earned a PK after being taken down in the area. Totti lined up over the spot and chipped the shot in past the diving Udinese keeper. How cheeky indeed!

Udinese didn't give up though. They didn't have Sanchez, but they did have Di Natale, Serie A's current top scorer, and just when things looked grim for the home side, he struck, putting the ball off his left foot past Doni in the 88th minute to equalize and send the home supporters into a frenzy. Udinese even looked to be the hunt for a winner going into stoppage time.

It was not be though, thanks to Totti. Udinese had the potential winner called back for handball in the final minute, and in the drama, Totti and Roma burst up the pitch. On the last kick of the match, Totti pounded the ball into the back of the net sealing all 3 points and a dramatic victory for Roma.

This match had massive consequences for the fourth and final Serie A spot in next year's Champions League. The win pulled Roma to within 3 points of Udinese for that spot, and Udinese seems to have tougher schedule left to go.