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This weekend after the winter break in the Italian championship, the 18th round matches took place. Turin's "Juventus" club secured another victory, while Milan's "Inter" in second place dropped two points playing against one of the league's outsiders. Defending champion "Juventus" continued their winning streak. This time, they defeated "Palermo" with a score of 2-1 as visitors. Although the hosts took the lead at the beginning of the match, Juventus' Romanian legionnaire Adrian Mutu managed to completely change the course of the game and scored two goals in the first half. This was enough for the Turin team to secure their usual three points and increase the gap from the closest pursuer to 10 points. The second-placed "Inter" allowed Juventus to extend their lead by failing to defeat the "Siena" team as visitors. The match ended goalless. Milan's club leaders Adriano, Obafemi Martins, Dejan Stankovic, and many other players posed a threat to the opponents' goal, but they lacked precision and could not score. Another team at the top of the table, "Fiorentina," also failed to secure a victory, playing to a 1-1 draw against "Reggina" as visitors. The hosts took the lead in the 12th minute after Alessandro Lucarelli sent the ball into the net after a corner. However, their lead did not last long. Just 60 seconds later, the visitors' goalkeeper Martin Jorgensen equalized the score with a header. In the remainder of the match, "Reggina" created more dangerous situations near the opponent's goal, but they could not score, and the match ended in a draw. Continuing their successful performances in the championship, the "Lazio" club triumphed once again at the Rome Olympic Stadium. This time, the capital's team defeated "Ascoli" with a 4-1 score. Although the visitors unexpectedly scored the opening goal, "Lazio" players did not falter and responded with four goals to further increase their tally of home wins. On the other hand, another team from the capital, "Roma," managed to defeat the bottom-placed team "Treviso" 1-0 as visitors after a tough battle. With Antonio Cassano sold and Vincenzo Montella and Shabani Nonda sidelined due to injuries, the only remaining forward in the Roma squad was Francesco Totti. However, even with just one forward, Roma managed to win as the team's defender Alberto Aquilani scored the only goal of the match, bringing victory to the capital team. It was the first goal of the season for this player wearing Roma's jersey in the Serie A championship. The "Livorno" club continued their successful run in the championship. The team from Tuscany caused another upset by defeating the favored "Sampdoria" team 2-0 as visitors. Both goals for the visitors were scored by Cristiano Lucarelli, who has been playing remarkably for the second consecutive season. Another surprise winner was the team "Chievo" in the championship. The Verona club won at home against "Lecce" with a 3-1 score. The team's leader Sergio Pellissier, as usual this season, contributed the most to the home victory by scoring two goals. One of the championship outsiders, the "Cagliari" club, managed to defeat this year's Champions League participant "Udinese" at home. The hosts won the match 2-1, with the visitors finishing the game with nine players. The Sardinian team snatched the victory with Antonio Langella's goal just four minutes before the end of the match. The "Empoli" team extended their losing streak by losing at home 1-3 to the "Messina" club. For Empoli, it was their sixth consecutive match without a victory. Round 18 statistics: 1 - 2 12` [1 - 0] Christian Terlizzi 15` [1 - 1] Adrian Mutu 34` [1 - 2] Adrian Mutu 0 - 0 1 - 1 12` [1 - 0] Alessandro Lucarelli 13` [1 - 1] Martin Jorgensen 4 - 1 14` [0 - 1] Roberto Guana 29` [1 - 1] Paolo Di Canio 34` [2 - 1] Gaby Mudingayi 73` [3 - 1] Goran Pandev 81` [4 - 1] Igli Tare 0 - 1 34` [0 - 1] Alberto Aquilani 0 - 2 7` [0 - 1] Cristiano Lucarelli 90` [0 - 2] Cristiano Lucarelli 3 - 1 20` [1 - 0] Sergio Pellissier 29` [1 - 1] Gennaro Delvecchio 52` [2 - 1] Sergio Pellissier 90` [3 - 1] Andrea Zanchetta 2 - 1 23` [0 - 1] Roberto Sensini 38` [1 - 1] Roberto Sensini (own goal) 86` [2 - 1] Antonio Langella 1 - 3 7` [0 - 1] Zlatan Muslimovic 35` [1 - 1] Sergio Bernardo Almiron 60` [1 - 2] Zlatan Muslimovic 75` [1 - 3] Arturo Di Napoli Top scorers: 1. Luca Toni ("Fiorentina") 16 goals; 2. David Trezeguet ("Juventus") 15; 4. Alberto Gilardino ("Milan") 11; 5-6. Adriano ("Inter"), Cristiano Lucarelli ("Livorno") with 10 goals each; 7-11. Emiliano Bonazzoli ("Sampdoria"), Francesco Tavano ("Empoli"), Enrico Chiesa ("Siena"), Andriy Shevchenko ("Milan"), Francesco Totti ("Roma") with 9 goals each. 12. David Suazo ("Cagliari") 8. League table:
