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In the "Serie A" championship in Italy, nine matches of the 16th round took place on Sunday. Both Milan clubs took advantage of the leader of the tournament Turin's "Juventus" stumbling, winning impressive victories with a four-goal margin. The derby was unable to win "Fiorentina", losing two points, and the "Udinese" and "Palermo" clubs fell into a crisis.
"Juventus" draw in Saturday's match against "Lazio" gave hope to the other two contenders for the champion title to come closer, and the Milan giants took advantage - "Milan" won at home against "Messina" after two goals from A. Shevchenko, a penalty kick from A. Pirlo, and another goal from A. Gilardino, while "Inter" crushed "Reggina" away - the scorers for the winners were the defender I. Cordoba, forwards O. Martins and Adriano, and goalkeeper D. Pizarro.
"Fiorentina" dropped to fourth place, failed to break the resistance of "Empoli" in a Tuscan derby. Although the visitors had many opportunities to score, they only broke through in the 70th minute, when G. Pazzini rushed to the ball rebounding after L. Toni's shot. However, I. Vannucchi managed to equalize the score in three minutes, and at the end of the match, the hosts were prevented from achieving a sensational victory by the crossbar.
The surprise of the season, the team of "Livorno", maintained the fifth position by defeating "Palermo" 2-0 in Sicily after goals from M. Pfertzel and S. Morrone, while the equally astonishing Verona's "Chievo" team remained in sixth place, confidently winning against "Udinese" by the same margin, which was their fifth consecutive defeat. The scorers for the winners were the striker duo S. Tiribocchi and V. Obinna.
Very important three points were also won by the team of "Cagliari", which moved up from the last place in the tournament table, defeating the debutant "Ascoli" at home in a battle for survival. The hosts took the lead 2-0 in the first half thanks to goals from M. Esposito and D. Suazo, and although M. Biso reduced the deficit in the second half, the Sardinians celebrated victory.
Together with "Treviso" and "Lecce", who shared the last position despite narrowly avoiding defeat, "Parma" also shares the last spot after snatching a point in a match against "Siena". The visitors initially took the lead through the striker B. Corradi, but later T. Locatelli and E. Chiesa managed to overturn the result in favor of their team. Just when it seemed that "Parma" would suffer their 7th consecutive away defeat, the young D. Dessena equalized in the last moments.
In the latest round match, "Sampdoria" in Genoa faced "Roma". Due to injuries to three main strikers, the attacking line of the capital team had to be led by the sole F. Totti, but this did not hinder him from leading his team to the front after a mistake by the defenders. Later, the hosts failed to capitalize on several great opportunities, and on the other side of the field, "Roma" defender D. De Rossi was unlucky as the ball he headed from a corner was cleared off the goal line by the goalkeeper.
In the 55th minute, the score became level - the guest defender C. Chivu in the penalty area fouled F. Flachi, the leader of the "Sampdoria" attacks, and he converted the penalty kick to equalize the score. The match became open, and both teams sought victory, but they had to settle for sharing a point.
Results of the 16th round:
0 - 4
2` [0 - 1] Ivan Ramiro Cordoba
15` [0 - 2] Obafemi Martins
40` [0 - 3] Adriano
90` [0 - 4] David Pizarro
2 - 2
47` [0 - 1] Bernardo Corradi
52` [1 - 1] Tomas Locatelli
77` [2 - 1] Enrico Chiesa
90` [2 - 2] Daniele Dessena
... (continues)
