Gazzetta

Serie A resumed after its three-week hiatus and most of the teams were looking like they'd eaten too many mince pies - or should that be too much panettone.

All the big teams struggled to find their form as they seemed to be suffering from post-Natale depression. Of course, we also had the little matter of a shock debut for Golden Balls in the 'posticipo' Sunday night match between Roma and Milan.

Carlo Ancelotti surprised everyone by including David Beckham from the start in the match at the Stadio Olimpico. So how did he do? Well it's pretty hard to say really. He sauntered around the pitch not doing anything in particular. A few short passes, a few long ones, one shot on target comfortably saved by Doni and that's your lot. He did ride Pato's back well after he had scored the equaliser and he also managed to produce more crosses than any other Milan player - nine for you stat fans. He virtually lasted the full match only to be substituted in the 90th minute and as he went off he turned and applauded to the Milan fans.

Carlo Ancelotti revealed he made the decision on Saturday evening to play Becks from the start and said, "It was a little reward for a person who has fitted in well in our group."

It took many by surprise including England coach Fabio Capello, who didn't have anyone there to observe the match. The reaction to Beckham's performance was lukewarm. He got a steady if unimpressive '6' from the Gazzetta dello Sport - sufficient, nothing more nothing less.

Regarding the match, Roma and Milan shared four goals as both Mirko Vucinic and Pato both scored a brace. It was a fair result that didn't change much in the table but allowed fourth-placed Napoli to shorten the gap to Milan to one point.

Earlier in the day Juventus had won 1-0, thanks again to a Alex Del Piero special from a free-kick, his sixth of the season - a new personal record. This was enough to leave them just four points behind Inter. Is the scudetto open again? Can la vecchia signora catch Inter? Ranieri doesn't want to talk about it. "We mustn't look at what they are doing but at what we're doing." But he also paid homage to plucky Siena who have now run both the top two in Serie A close. "It's correct to acknowledge the merits of our opponents when they play better than us. Siena didn't deserve to lose, we were lucky to have in our team a champion like Del Piero."

The reason people are now thinking the scudetto isn't a foregone conclusion is because Inter only managed to draw on Saturday night against Cagliari in the San Siro. A 1-1 draw with Cagliari taking the lead from Acquafresca and Ibrahimovic rescuing Inter with a 77th-minute equaliser was harsh on Cagliari. They missed too many chances to put the game to bed. One glaring miss from Roberto Acquafresca in front of an open goal after a Julio Cesar parry springs to mind. Just for the conspiracy theorists he is owned by Inter and is on loan to Cagliari for the 2008-2009 season.

Before the match all the talk was about Mario Balotelli and his agent/brother's insistence that if he doesn't play more he will be looking for pastures new. Mourinho, as prepared as ever, had facts to hand that proved Super Mario was only second to Ibra in terms of minutes played among the attackers. Must be a new fad, managers with a list of facts at their fingertips.

Next week let's hope that a full week of training will help the quality of the matches as some were a good cure for insomnia - Udinese v Sampdoria the match in question. Milan take on Fiorentina - will Becks make his home debut? Atalanta host Inter - will Bobo get his revenge on Moratti? And finally Juve play Lazio in Rome - can ADP score another wonder free kick? Hopefully all these questions will be answered next week.

Brendan Allen