© EuroFootball.com
The triumphant journey of Turin's "Juventus" towards the champion title on Saturday was slightly halted - the leader of the Italian "Serie A" played a draw with the local "Lazio" team at the Rome Olympic Stadium. Meanwhile, in the second match on Saturday, the underdog duel was won by "Treviso" playing at home.
1 - 1
16` [1 - 0] Tommaso Rocchi
26` [1 - 1] David Trezeguet
This season, "Juve" had only dropped points in one match out of 15, where they lost to "Milan", but after those matches the Turin team bounced back with six consecutive victories. However, this time the reigning champions had an away trip to the Italian capital, where "Lazio" had not yet been defeated by anyone in seven matches.
This was reflected in the beginning of the match - "Lazio" took the initiative from the start and created dangerous attacks, preventing the guests from getting closer to the goal. In one of the first penalty area situations, Tommaso Rocchi found himself free, but his attempt to pass the ball to the middle was intercepted by defenders, shortly after in a similar episode after Luciano Zauri's pass, Valon Behrami almost reached the ball, and the only dangerous attack by the visitors near the goal, Gianluca Zambrotta's shot, passed by.
"Juve" seemed a bit unsettled, and although Mauro Camoranesi blocked Paolo Di Canio's attempt to deceive Lilian Thuram, who usually played coldly and reliably, the Turin team lost the ball in the penalty area. It reached "Lazio" defender Christian Manfredini, who made a precise backward pass, leaving T.Rocchi standing to score into the empty goal.
Later, M.Oddo's powerful shot from the penalty area almost increased the score, his attempt was slightly off target, but the guests still managed to score the second goal of the match. After Pavel Nedved's header from the penalty spot, the ball bounced off the ground and flew towards the goal, where David Trezeguet was waiting to send the ball into the net from very close range. This was already the 14th goal of the Frenchman in the championship this season.
At the end of the first half, tension was rising, there were many tough battles, and the match referee had a hard time controlling the situation. After Fabio Cannavaro's rough play against V.Behrami, the combative Swiss national team player was seriously injured and taken off the field, and just before the end of the first half, Fabio Liverani and P.Nedved clashed.
After the break, the initiative was taken over by the visitors, who had good opportunities to break forward - initially Z.Ibrahimovic missed the ball at the far post, then after this pass slightly later D.Trezeguet was one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but Angelo Peruzzi blocked his attempt.
The match continued to be open, and another shot by Z.Ibrahimovic was off target, M.Oddo interrupted a dangerous pass intended for the Swede in the last moment, and he soon accurately passed the ball to the penalty area on the other side where Igli Tare headed the ball just wide of the post. C.Manfredini's attempt to head the ball towards the goal was also inaccurate.
With six minutes left, "Juve" pressed the home team, and "Lazio" managed to defend against a very dangerous attempt by M.Zalayeta to pass the ball to his teammates, then P.Nedved's powerful shot went straight to goalkeeper A.Peruzzi.
However, the match was not over yet: the "Lazio" players themselves went on the attack, but L.Zauri failed to deceive the opponent in the penalty area, and Goran Pandev's shot from very close to the goal was saved by Christian Abbiati, and in the final moments F.Liverani's attempt to chip the goalkeeper was interrupted by the defenders, so the teams had to share a point in this beautiful match.
2 - 1
31` [1 - 0] Emanuele Filippini
64` [2 - 0] Andre Pinga
69` [2 - 1] Mirko Vucinic (11m.)
In the other match of the day, "Treviso" triumphed - at home, the league newcomer defeated the "Lecce" team with a score of 2-1 thanks to goals from Emanuele Filippini and A.Pinga, with M.Vucinic scoring from the penalty spot. This was a great victory for the Treviso team, as for the first time in the club's history, they won at home in the "Serie A" competitions.
League table:
