In our weekly feature, here on Italian Football Daily, we take a look at the performances of Italian players currently based in the top two divisions in England over the Christmas period.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Claudio Ranieri (Manager – Leicester City)
Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City went into the Christmas period top of the English Premier League, however they faced two tough fixtures against Liverpool and Manchester City which would be a test of their title credentials.
On Boxing Day, Leicester struggled against Liverpool, crashing to a 1-0 defeat against Jurgen Klopp’s team. The league leaders lack their usual high tempo and energy and struggled to break down the Liverpool defence, as they failed to score for the first time this season. Their star performers this season, Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez both struggled, with Ranieri explaining after the game that the former had played with a slight fever, whilst Mahrez was feeling tired after his outstanding first half of the season.
Three days later, Leicester hosted Manchester City at the Walker’s Stadium, and held the title favourites to a scoreless draw. City dominated the first half, but the Leicester defence held strong thanks to several good saves by Kasper Schmeichel. Leicester did have the best chance of the game, but Jamie Vardy fired over when through one on one with Joe Hart after defensive errors by Nicolas Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala. The draw kept Leicester in second place in the Premier League table, ahead of their opponents.
With the January transfer window coming up, the biggest challenge facing Ranieri will be holding onto his star players of the first half of the season, with several clubs having expressed interest in signing Vardy, Mahrez and N’Golo Kante.
Matteo Darmian (Manchester United)
Matteo Darmian has missed the last four Manchester United games due to the hamstring injury that he picked up against Wolfsburg in United’s midweek defeat in the UEFA Champions League.
He returned to the United starting line-up for their home game against Chelsea and acquitted himself well in the left-back position. Although lack of match fitness meant that he only lasted 70 minutes on his return from injury, he showed several glimpses of the form which he showed on arrival at Old Trafford back in August, particularly in his support of Anthony Martial when United were attacking. One hopes that Darmian’s last few performances have seen him overcome the dip in form in mid-October that saw him relegated to the United bench for several games in late October/early November.
Angelo Ogbonna (West Ham United)
Angelo Ogbonna has put in several excellent performances over the past few weeks following his return to the West Ham United after injury saw him miss virtually all of September, October and November.
Ogbonna continued that impressive form over the festive period as West Ham collected four points out of a possible six, as they drew 1-1 with Aston Villa on Boxing Day and then defeated Southampton 2-1 on Monday. Despite an impressive performance against Villa, Ogbonna was responsible for the penalty from which Villa equalised as he clumsily brought down Rudy Gestede. The challenge also earnt Ogbonna a booking, and was the only way that Villa looked like scoring throughout the game.
Graziano Pelle (Southampton)
Graziano Pelle missed both of Southampton’s fixtures over the Christmas period with a knee injury. In his absence, the Saints astounded everyone with a 4-0 defeat over Arsenal on Boxing Day. The Saints hadn’t won for seven matches, and most watchers expected Arsenal to emerge comprehensive winners. Two days later, Pelle was missing again as Southampton crashed to a 2-1 defeat away at West Ham United.
Fabio Borini & Vito Mannone (Sunderland)
Fabio Borini continued his run of games in the Sunderland starting eleven, by scoring for the second consecutive game as the Black Cats fell to a 4-1 defeat away at Manchester City on Boxing Day. Borini’s goal however made little difference to the pattern of the game, coming when the hosts were already four goals ahead.
Vito Mannone started the game against Manchester City, but had little chance with any of City’s four goals. Mannone gave the scoreline some semblance of respectability, making good saves from Wilfried Bony, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva in the second half.
Sunderland’s tough Christmas period got no easier four days later, as they hosted Liverpool at the Stadium of Light. As a reward for his performances against City and Chelsea, Borini kept his place in the starting line-up as Sunderland looked to move out of the relegation zone and, along with Duncan Whatmore, he was once again Sunderland’s brightest attacking threat.
Sunderland’s best chance of the game fell to Borini after he managed to skip past two Liverpool defenders in the penalty area, but was only able to shoot straight at Simon Mignolet. Mannone had little chance with Christian Benteke’s 46th minute goal, but did prevent the Belgium international doubling Liverpool’s lead in the last minute of the match, saving well when Benteke broke clear of Sunderland defence.
Alessandro Diamanti (Watford)
Alessandro Diamanti was, once again, an unused substitute in Watford’s 2-2 draw against Chelsea away at Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day, and also in Watford’s 2-1 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur two days later.
The former Brescia, Bologna and Fiorentina star has featured infrequently this season for The Hornets, and one would not be surprised if he pushes for a move away from Vicarage Road during the January transfer window.
ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP
Fernando Forestieri (Sheffield Wednesday)
Fernando Forestieri continued his impressive form this season, by twice finding the net for Sheffield Wednesday in their 3-1 win over Birmingham City on Boxing Day. The win was enough to move Wednesday up to seventh place in the table, as their push for promotion continued.
Two days later, Forestieri was only a half-time substitute as Wednesday travelled to top of the table Middlesbrough in what was to prove a cagey game. Forestieri was dropped to the substitutes’ bench, following complaining of tiredness after playing 72 minutes in Wednesday’s Boxing Day game. He struggled to have any significant impact on the match, having several shots from the edge box blocked by the ‘Boro defence. Forestieri did have a chance midway through the second half, but fired wide from close range after a goalmouth melee following a corner.
Diego Fabbrini (on loan from Watford) & Michael Agazzi (Middlesbrough)
Middlesbrough only played one game over the Christmas period due to their game against Blackburn Rovers being called off on Boxing Day due to a waterlogged pitch. Two days later, they overcame Fernando Forestieri’s Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 to maintain their position at the top of the Championship table.
Fabbrini was a 62nd minute substitute, and lead the line well as ‘Boro tried to extend their lead, but few opportunities came his way.
Michael Agazzi did not feature in Middlesbrough’s squad for this fixture.
Mirco Antenucci, Giuseppe Bellusci, Marco Silvestri & Tommaso Bianchi (Leeds United)
Massimo Cellino’s Leeds United continued their run of good form over the festive period, moving into twelfth place in the Championship table.
On Boxing Day, Leeds were held to a 1-1 draw away at Nottingham Forest. Unfortunately, the Forest goal came from a mix-up between Marco Silvestre and Giuseppe Bellusci, as both failed to clear a long ball over the top, allowing Nelson Olivereia to walk the ball into an unguarded goal. Silvestre did however redeem himself, making several smart saves to keep the Forest attack at bay, before Leeds equalised with ten minutes of the match remaining to earn a point. Antenucci came on with thirteen minutes of the game, and immediately had a chance to level the scores but fired badly wide when given a half-chance. As has been the case for much of this season, Tomasso Bianchi did not make the Leeds match-day squad.
Three days later, Leeds hosted promotion chasing Derby County at Elland Road, in a fixture that was scheduled to be shown on television. In protest at the number of times that Leeds have had fixtures moved to accommodate the television companies, Cellino initially threatened to prevent Sky Sports accessing the ground to televise the match, but finally relented on the afternoon of the match. The match proved to be a thriller, as Leeds led 2-1 going into the last 12 minutes of the game, but Thomas Ince, son of the former Inter star Paul Ince, scored meaning the teams shared the points at Elland Road.
Of the Italians at Elland Road, only Silvestre made the starting line-up for Leeds; both Antenucci and Bellusci were unused substitutes, whilst Bianchi once again failed to make the match-day squad. Silvestre played his part in the match, saving well from Bradley Johnson late in the game to earn Leeds a point.
Francesco Pisano (Bolton Wanderers)
Francesco Pisano was not included in Bolton Wanderers’ squad for their 4-0 defeat at Rotherham United on Boxing Day, or their 1-0 home victory over Lancashire rivals, Blackburn Rovers.
Gabriele Angella (Queens Park Rangers – on loan from Watford)
Gabrielle Angella played the full game as Queens Park Rangers crashed to a 2-1 defeat away at Ipswich Town, thanks to a 90th minute goal from Luke Chambers.
Angella was an unused substitute in QPR’s 1-1 draw at home to Huddersfield Town. QPR looked to be heading for the win when, once again, they conceded in the 90th minute, to cost themselves two points.
Since Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink took over as manager on 12 December, QPR have failed to win any of their last six games, a run which has seen them lose touch with those challenging for a play-off place.
Federico Macheda (Cardiff City)
Federico Macheda was not selected in Cardiff City’s match-day squad for their 2-1 defeat at MK Dons on Boxing Day. Two days later, Macheda was an 82nd minute substitute as Cardiff were held to a 1-1 draw away at Nottingham Forest. Macheda had little chance to make an impact, and one wonders whether he might look to move onto pastures new in January.
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