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On Saturday and Sunday, the seventh round of this season's Serie A took place. Victory was achieved by all three main favorites for the champions title - "Juve", "Milan", and "Inter".
This time, Turin's "Juventus" club secured victory with a goal by team captain Alessandro Del Piero, who has been performing very successfully lately. This player shone in the recent World Cup qualification match against Norway, where A. Del Piero helped the Italian national team defeat the opponents 2-1 and was recognized as the most valuable player of the match. This was the second consecutive match for the veteran where he managed to determine the outcome.
In the other matches that took place on Saturday, Champions League participant "Udinese" managed to beat "Siena" with D. Di Michele's hat-trick securing the win for the visitors. The match was marked by a strange incident. In the 86th minute, a member of the medical staff on the field pretended that several "Udinese" players hit him in the face. As a result, a red card was shown to "Udinese" player Christian Obodo.
Milan's "Inter" finally demonstrated a productive game, crushing "Livorno" with a 5-0 score. Even two goals were scored by "Inter" defenders I. Cordoba and M. Materazzi, the first goal of the season in Italy was scored by the Uruguayan A. Recoba, and J. Cruzas and E. Cambiasso also stood out for the Milan club.
Continuing to be successful in their matches at home, Rome's "Lazio" club defeated "Fiorentina" at home this time. A precise strike by L. Zauri brought victory to the hosts about 10 minutes before the end of the match.
Another capital club that failed to find their game was "Roma", as they were defeated at home by league debutant "Empoli" with a 1-0 score. Despite the coach and some players speaking positively about the team's chances in the Italian championship, "Roma" continues to struggle and has only collected 8 points in 7 matches.
Unexpectedly, this time "Sampdoria" stumbled, losing away by 1-2 to debutant "Ascoli". The hosts took the lead after a successful V. Tosto shot, but in the second half, "Sampdoria" forward E. Bonazzoli equalized the score. However, "Ascoli" managed to score another goal - V. Tosto scored for the second time in the match, securing three points for the hosts.
Meanwhile, "Palermo" managed to avoid defeat in the last minute at home against "Chievo". The hosts took the lead in the 15th minute after a successful penalty by E. Corini, but "Chievo" responded with two goals, allowing the visitors to lead until the 90th minute when "Palermo" forward A. Caracciolo levelled the score for his team.
The match between "Parma" and "Treviso" also ended in a draw. Both teams scored one goal each. "Parma" took the lead in the first half with a scorer F. Simplicio, but "Treviso" forward D. Fava equalized the score in the middle of the second half.
The bad performance in the championship continued for the "Lecce" club. This time they were defeated at home by "Reggina" in an important game for the outsiders. Goals by G. Tedesco and F. Cozza brought victory to the hosts in different halves.
In the final round of the previous season's Champions League finalists, "Milan" convincingly defeated "Cagliari" with a 2-0 score away. The Milan club took care of all their business in the first half with goals from the attacking duo A. Gilardino and A. Shevchenko.
7th round stats:
- 1 - 0
- 24` [1 - 0] Alessandro Del Piero
- 2 - 3
- 26` [0 - 1] David Di Michele
- 31` [0 - 2] David Di Michele
- 45` [0 - 3] David Di Michele
- 53` [1 - 3] Enrico Chiesa
- 67` [2 - 3] Valerio Bertotto (own goal)
- 5 - 0
- 11` [1 - 0] Marco Materazzi
- 20` [2 - 0] Julio Ricardo Cruz
- 49` [3 - 0] Esteban Cambiasso
- 51` [4 - 0] Ivan Ramiro Cordoba
- 61` [5 - 0] Alvaro Recoba
- 1 - 0
- 82` [1 - 0] Luciano Zauri
- 1 - 0
- 59` [1 - 0] Francesco Tavano
- 2 - 1
- 45` [1 - 0] Vittorio Tosto
- 54` [1 - 1] Emiliano Bonazzoli
- 79` [2 - 1] Vittorio Tosto
- 2 - 2
- 15` [1 - 0] Eugenio Corini (penalty)
- 18` [1 - 1] Amauri
- 39` [1 - 2] Amauri (penalty)
- 90` [2 - 2] Andrea Caracciolo
- 1 - 1
- 34` [1 - 0] Fabio Simplicio
- 67` [1 - 1] Dino Fava
- 2 - 0
- 13` [1 - 0] Giacomo Tedesco
- 52` [2 - 0] Francesco Cozza
- 0 - 2
- 1` [0 - 1] Alberto Gilardino
- 27` [0 - 2] Andrey Shevchenko
