20th round: Milan clubs narrow the gap

2006-01-19 13:07 © EuroFootball.com

n the Italian "Serie A" championships, all 20th round matches were played on Wednesday evening. The championship leader Turin's "Juventus" lost two points, failing to beat Verona's "Chievo" away. Both Milan clubs, who are chasing each other, took advantage of this stumble, securing victories with a minimal margin and reducing the gap, while "Fiorentina" had to admit the superiority of the "Sampdoria" team.

One of the surprises of the season was the "Chievo" team, which had lost the last nine matches against "Juventus", and this time the team's coach Giuseppe Pilon promised to shave off his mustache in case of a victory against the country's champion and convincing league leader.

Although "Juve" dominated the beginning of the match as visitors, the hosts broke forward after a counterattack - Franco Semioli broke through the right side and made a pass to the penalty area, where former Daniele Franceschini sent the ball into the net with one touch.

However, "Chievo's" lead lasted only ten minutes, as after playing a little over half an hour, Patrick Vieira equalized the opponent's goalkeeper with a header after Mauro Camoranesi's penalty kick. In the second half, both teams had chances to score, but the result remained unchanged - the hosts unexpectedly secured a draw.

It was not easy for Milan's "Inter" club away either, as they fought at the "Omobono Tenni" stadium against the league newcomer "Treviso". "Inter" took the lead in the 23rd minute when Julio Cruz sent the ball into the net with a header after a pass from Nicolas Burdisso. Despite this, the hosts did not give up and tried not to give in to their famous opponents, but in the middle of the half, the ball hit the crossbar and the post after Andre Pigo's penalty kick.

Soon after, from a sharp angle, the visitor's forward Adriano also hit the crossbar, but neither team could create more dangerous opportunities. In the last ten minutes of the match, the former "Anderlecht" player Walter Baseggio made his debut for the "Treviso" team, but he did not change the course of the match, so "Inter" won and is now eight points behind the "Juventus" club.

Meanwhile, playing at home against "Ascoli", "Milan" took the lead in the fourth minute when Fillippo Inzaghi scored, but the Italian champions, who have been in poor form lately, failed to increase their lead and despite the victory, they were even booed by the spectators at the "San Siro" stadium.

In the match of the fifth-placed "Livorno" against "Lecce", both teams missed a penalty kick and the match ended goalless, while the recovering "Roma" won 3-1 against the "Reggina" team at home and jumped to the sixth position. The team captain Francesco Totti scored two goals for the capital club.

One of the most beautiful matches of the day took place in Sicily, where "Palermo" defeated the "Parma" team in a close match. The visitors took the lead twice with precise strikes from Fabio Simplicio and Paolo Cannavaro, but in the second half, they conceded three goals in just over ten minutes and had to admit defeat to the opponents. The debutant forward David Di Michele determined the victory for Palermo with two beautiful goals.

In other matches, the "Cagliari" team, slowly climbing from the bottom of the standings, snatched a second consecutive victory in the final moments - this time David Suazo scored the decisive goal in the fourth minute of added time after a goalkeeper error, while the matches between "Empoli" and "Udinese" and "Messina" and "Lazio" ended in a 1-1 draw.

Results of the 20th round:

1 - 1

52' [1 - 0] Francesco Tavano

54' [1 - 1] Felipe

0 - 1

21' [0 - 1] Julio Ricardo Cruz

3 - 1

11' [1 - 0] Angelo Palombo

14' [1 - 1] Luca Toni

24' [2 - 1] Max Tonetto

34' [3 - 1] Francesco Flachi

3 - 1