Milan romp to 4-0 win over Siena to close the gap on Inter to 6 points

Ronaldinho netted a hat-trick as AC Milan eased to a 4-0 victory over bottom club Siena and cut Inter Milan's lead at the top of Serie A to six points.

AC Milan 4-0 Siena
Ronaldinho struck a first-half penalty, a second-half header and a long-range shot late on after Marco Borriello had hit the Rossoneri's second.

Siena's efforts to kick-start a dismal season were undermined by the 10th-minute dismissal of goalkeeper Gianluca Curci, which led to Ronaldinho's opening spot-kick as Leonardo's side cut Inter's lead after their 2-2 draw at Bari on Saturday.

AS Roma 3-0 Genoa
Luca Toni bagged his first goals since joining the Roma on loan from Bayern Munich this month, scoring on the stroke of half-time after team-mate Simone Perrotta had put Roma ahead in the 17th minute.

And Toni put the game beyond Genoa's reach on the hour mark to put the capital city club into 3rd spot.

Napoli 0-0 Palermo
Napoli drew 0-0 with Palermo in Naples in a dour game that had few real moments of danger after Fabrizio Miccoli missed a first half penalty for the visitors.

Chievo 1-0 Juventus
Juventus slipped to fifth in the standings after the Turin giants lost 1-0 at Chievo.

Gennaro Sardo's stunning first-half strike proved to be the only goal of the game as Juve turned in a performance lacking energy and confidence which comes on the back of a 3-0 hammering at the hands of AC Milan in their last league outing.

Serie A TOP SIX STANDINGS

CLUB        Pl  W D L  GD Pts 
Inter Milan 20 14-4-2 +24  46 
AC Milan    19 12-4-3 +16  40 
AS Roma     20 10-5-5  +9  35 
Napoli      20  9-7-4  +5  34 
Juventus    20 10-3-7  +6  33 
Palermo     20  8-7-5  +3  31 

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Juventus beat inter Milan 2-1 while AC Milan thrash Sampdoria 3-0

Juve beat leaders Inter 2-1 as Mourinho sent off
Claudio Marchisio scored a superb goal gave 10-man Juventus a 2-1 win over leaders Inter Milan in an enthralling game on Saturday.

Italy midfielder Marchisio danced past Walter Samuel and chipped the ball over Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar just before the hour mark to inflict Inter’s second league defeat this term.

Juventus took the lead after 20 minutes when Diego's free kick was headed on by Giorgio Chiellini and the ball deflected in off Inter's Lucio.

Inter manager Jose Mourinho sarcastically applauded the referee after the goal for awarding the free kick and was immediately sent to the stands by the referee.

Inter Milan equalised after 26 minutes when a Dejan Stankovic’s cross was headed in by an unmarked Samuel Eto'o.

Second-placed Milan overpower Sampdoria 3-0
AC Milan scored three goals in the first 23 minutes to seal an easy victory over Sampdoria.

Ronaldinho set up the first two goals but then went off with a minor hamstring strain with one eye on Tuesday's Champions League clash at FC Zurich, where a win will put Milan through.

Striker Marco Borriello headed in the Brazilian's cross after just two minutes for his fourth league goal of the season.

Ronaldinho, playing on the left of a new three-man attack, then laid the ball off for midfielder Clarence Seedorf score just inside the box after 21 minutes.

Alexandre Pato scored soon after to secure a fifth straight league win for Leonardo’s side, who have recovered from a shaky start to the campaign.

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I'm not sulking - it's tax time ...

I've received email asking why I'm not writing so much this week - is it because Arsenal have been eliminated from their 3rd knockout competition?

ARSENAL'S SEASON ALMOST OVER
Well - yes a bit - it's always hard to wind up the enthusiasm when you're watching your club struggling to live up to their potential - and that's certainly been Arsenal's fate over the last 3 weeks.

On Wednesday night Arsenal huffed and puffed and "almost" blew PSV Eindhoven's house down but when they conceded yet another soft headered goal from a 83rd minute free-kick the jig was up.

Well done to PSV - the Dutch side battled well over both games - and scored two good goals which was one more than Arsenal managed to convert - and they deservedly go into the Quarter-Finals.

For Arsenal the follow-up news is that Theirry Henry suffered ripped groin and stomach muscles - almost certainly season ending for him - and they'll now have to concentrate on achieving a top 4 league finish and a tilt at the Champions League again next season ... as we're out of everything else.

All season Arsenal have looked to be short of a couple of experienced players whenever the injuries and/or suspensions have hit - no matter what Mr Wenger says - and it's not good complaining about fixture congestion as it should not be a surprise anymore - it happens every season.

PROVISIONAL TAX TIME
However ... the main reason that I've been a bit quiet is simply that it's provisional tax time in my part of the world.

March 7th, July 7th, November 7th. These are all days which fill the self-employeed and small company owners full of dread - as we struggle to calculate earnings and liabilities, estimate the profits and then stump up huge portions of tax payments - finding the cash somewhere.

Pay too little and you'll be whacked with huge penalty taxes when the end of year accounts come through - so you end up pouring almost all your savings into the state tax coffers - keeping just enough for a few beers and a tin of baked beans.

Working for yourself has plenty of benefits - but financial security and certainty at tax time isn't one of them. Still at least I can afford a beer.

Catch ya soon.

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