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In the Italian "Serie A" championships, the sixth round of matches took place over the weekend. The championship leader, Turin's "Juventus", successfully defended their title by winning against Milan's "Inter" in the so-called Italian derby. The first defeat was suffered by "Livorno", who lost to the "Fiorentina" team, who currently shares 2nd-3rd place with "Milan".
"Juve" has won all seven matches in the Italian championship and in the Champions League this season. They hosted "Inter" at home, where a victory would have allowed "Inter" to take the lead. However, in less than ideal weather conditions at the stadium, the initiative belonged to the hosts, who took the lead after a penalty kick goal by Frenchman D.Trezeguet.
In the 34th minute, the Turin team doubled their lead - W.Samuel brought down Z.Ibrahimović, and the resulting penalty kick was perfectly converted by the Czech P.Nedved. Later, "Juve" coach F.Capello was forced to make all substitutions due to player injuries, but the home team resisted against "Inter"'s attacks and won an important victory.
The third consecutive victory was achieved by the "Milan" team, this time against "Reggina", with defender P.Maldini scoring two goals at the beginning of the match. This was the first time for the most experienced "Serie A" player to score twice in a match, while the visiting team managed to score a consolation goal in the last minute through S.Cavalli.
The Tuscan derby was intense, with "Fiorentina" playing against "Livorno" and winning 3-2. In the 16th minute, the visiting team lost their leader C.Lucarelli due to disputes with the referee, and soon after "Fiorentina" forward L.Toni put his team ahead, followed by another goal from M.Jorgensen a few minutes later. An hour into the match, a third goal was scored by G.Pazzini, and as it turned out later, it was decisive as "Livorno" scored two goals in the final minutes of the match.
A surprise was recorded in Rome, where the local team unexpectedly lost to "Siena" in a thrilling and dramatic match. The visitors took the lead in the first half through P.Negro, R.Taddei equalized after the break, but soon after E.Chiesa restored the lead for Siena. With five minutes left until the end of the match, C.Panucci equalized once again, but in the final minute, "Roma" players went on the attack and snatched victory for the visiting team through F.Colonnese. Interestingly, all three goals for "Siena" were scored by players who were formerly rivals of "Lazio", the city's other club.
However, things were not going well for "Lazio" either - the Rome team had to acknowledge a resounding victory for a resurgent "Udinese" at their away match. The home team took the lead through V.Iaquinta, who earned a dubious penalty kick and converted it himself, while D.Di Michele and V.Candela goals ultimately defeated the resistance of the visitors.
Genoa's "Sampdoria" climbed to fourth place by thrashing the "Messina" team on their opponents' field. Both teams failed to convert penalty kicks, but the visitors played more accurately, with E.Bonazzoli scoring two goals and F.Flachi and M.Borriello adding one each. G.D'Agostino stood out for the Sicilians.
The season started poorly for "Empoli", but they are now in good form - this time the league newcomers managed to come back and even take the lead in the match against "Palermo" in Sicily, but the hosts managed to equalize and secure a point. "Lecce" also made a recovery at home, thrashing "Cagliari".
Debutants "Ascoli" in the top Italian league continue to show that they will not be an easy target and have now even won their first game of the season by defeating the "Parma" team, though they initially had to chase their opponents. The derby between Veneto region teams "Chievo" and "Treviso" ended in a draw, allowing the latter team to claim their first point in "Serie A" history.
Results of the 6th round:
0 - 0
3 - 0
52' [1 - 0] Vincenzo Iaquinta (11m.)
81' [2 - 0] Antonio Di Natale
90' [3 - 0] Vincent Candela
3 - 1
20' [0 - 1] Andrea Pisanu
28' [1 - 1] Sasa Bjelanovic
33' [2 - 1] Pasquale Foggia
78' [3 - 1] Sasa Bjelanovic
84' Domenico Morfeo ("Parma") sent off
3 - 2
27' [1 - 0] Luca Toni
35' [2 - 0] Martin Jorgensen
60' [3 - 0] Giampaolo Pazzini
86' [3 - 1] Fabio Galante
88' [3 - 2] Stefano Morrone
16' Cristiano Lucarelli ("Livorno") sent off
3 - 0
8' [1 - 0] Axel Cedric Konan
14' [2 - 0] Alex Pinardi
69' [3 - 0] Cristian Daniel Ledesma
1 - 4
45' [0 - 1] Francesco Flachi
63' [0 - 2] Emiliano Bonazzoli
75' [0 - 3] Marco Borriello
77' [1 - 3] Gaetano D'Agostino
90' [1 - 4] Emiliano Bonazzoli
2 - 1
5' [1 - 0] Paolo Maldini
20' [2 - 0] Paolo Maldini
90' [2 - 1] Simone Cavalli
2 - 2
7' [1 - 0] Andrea Caracciolo
9' [1 - 1] Francesco Tavano
42' [1 - 2] Francesco Tavano
54' [2 - 2] Stephen Ayodele Makinwa
2 - 3
17' [0 - 1] Paolo Negro
46' [1 - 1] Rodrigo Taddei
54' [1 - 2] Enrico Chiesa
86' [2 - 2] Christian Panucci
90' [2 - 3] Francesco Colonnese
58' Simone Vergassola ("Siena") sent off
2 - 0
22' [1 - 0] David Trezeguet
34' [2 - 0] Pavel Nedved
