23rd round: "Milan" lost another two points © EuroFootball.com

This weekend all matches of the twentieth round of the Italian league were played. The championship leaders Turin "Juventus" and Milan "Inter" secured routine wins, but Milan once again failed to beat their opponents. The Milan club played a goalless draw away against Rome's "Lazio" club, which has not experienced a defeat in eight consecutive matches and has not lost at home to anyone this season. The match started with dangerous attacks from the visitors. Alberto Gilardino and Jaapo Stam's shots kept the opponents' goalkeeper on his toes, but neither of them managed to score. Shortly after, a promising attack by Andrej Shevchenko was halted by the referee for a handball, although the replay showed that the ball touched the Ukrainian's chest, not his hand. Towards the end of the first half, Lazio's goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi saved his team from conceding a goal multiple times. The second half began with dangerous attacks from Lazio. After Gaby Mudingayi's shot on goal, Milan's goalkeeper Dida's excellent performance saved the team. A few minutes later, Alberto Gilardino had a great opportunity to guide his team ahead, but his shot missed just wide. In the 69th minute, Milan created an even more dangerous opportunity. Angelo Peruzzi slightly touched Andrej Shevchenko's shot and the ball hit the crossbar of Lazio's goal. As the match was ending, Lazio also had a chance to win the game, but Stefano Mauri's shot missed the target. Thanks to contentious referee decisions, the championship leaders Juventus overcame Udinese 1-0 at home. In the 21st minute, Udinese's Antonio Di Natale sent the ball into the net, but the referee did not count the goal due to a controversial offside call. Another episode occurred after fifteen minutes, when Udinese's Sulley Ali Muntari was shown a red card for a challenge on Juve's Pavel Nedved, despite the video replay showing that the player hit the ball, not Nedved's leg. Finally, in the 70th minute, the referee allowed Alessandro Del Piero's goal for Juventus, even though the Italian was offside when receiving the ball. Inter secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory at home against the resilient Verona "Chievo" team. Julio Cruz scored the goal for the hosts. Luis Figo's shot hit the post, but it fell to Julio Cruz, who then scored. Towards the end of the match, the hosts put the ball in the net once again, but the referee disallowed the goal due to a questionable offside call. The fourth-placed "Fiorentina" also secured a narrow 1-0 win at home against the "Lecce" team. In this match, the Bulgarian Valeri Bojinov finally made an appearance for Florence, as he had been removed from the team's starting lineup due to disagreements with the club's management. The winning goal for Fiorentina was scored by the league's top scorer, Luca Toni. For the seventh consecutive victory, "Fiorentina" pursued by "Roma" in the league table, defeated the "Parma" team away. Francesco Totti and Alessandro Mancini's tandem has been driving the opposing defense into despair lately, and this match was no exception. Francesco Totti scored all the goals, with two of them being scored by Brazilian Mancini. The sixth-placed "Livorno" stumbled again at home, playing a 2-2 draw against "Messina". Although with just over ten minutes left until the end of the match, it seemed that the hosts would finally secure three points, the situation turned upside down in the following fifteen minutes. In the 79th minute, the referee awarded the visitors a penalty kick against "Livorno," even though the foul was not committed inside the penalty area. Arturo Di Napoli successfully converted the penalty, but that wasn't all. In the sixth minute of added time, the referee gave another gift to the visitors – another penalty was awarded. Once again, it was successfully converted by the same A. Di Napoli, earning his team an incredible point. This was not the only match in which the result changed in added time. In another match, the "Reggina" team managed to escape defeat against "Palermo" in the 92nd minute. The team secured a point with a fantastic goal scored by Carlos Paredes, causing chaos among the fans. The underdogs "Treviso" continue to perform well. The team unexpectedly played a 1-1 draw away against "Sampdoria." In this match, the hosts saw the debut of defender Mark Iuliano, who recently joined the team from "Mallorca." The crisis continues for "Empoli" – the team suffered a defeat away to "Cagliari." In this match, "Cagliari's" talented midfielder Mauro Esposito finally demonstrated his abilities, as he has been playing rather poorly throughout this season and cannot seem to find last season's stunning form. In the match between the outsiders, "Siena" played a 1-1 draw at home against the "Ascoli" team. Once again, the teams saw Erjon Bogdani, who scored three goals in the last round against "Palermo," find the back of the net. 23rd round statistics: 0 – 0 1 – 0 70` [1 – 0] Alessandro Del Piero Sulley Ali Muntari ("Udinese") was sent off in the 36th minute of the match. 1 – 0 7` [1 – 0] Julio Ricardo Cruz 1 – 0 37` [1 – 0] Luca Toni 0 – 3 47` [0 – 1] Alessandro Mancini 72` [0 – 2] Alessandro Mancini 77` [0 – 3] Simone Perrotta 2 – 2 54` [1 – 0] Cristiano Lucarelli 68` [2 – 0] Cristiano Lucarelli 79` [2 – 1] Arturo Di Napoli (11m) 90` [2 – 2] Arturo Di Napoli (11m) Filippo Cristante ("Messina") was sent off in the 84th minute of the match. 2 – 2 42` [0 – 1] Simone Barrone 45` [1 – 1] Gaetano De Rosa 80` [1 – 2] Andrea Caracciolo 90` [2 – 2] Carlos Humberto Paredes 1 – 1 30` [1 – 0] Vitaly Kutuzov 63` [1 – 1] Gustavo Lazzaretti 4 – 1 2` [1 – 0] Nelson Abeijon 19` [2 – 0] Mauro Esposito 37` [3 – 0] David Suazo 59` [3 – 1] Francesco Tavano 62` [4 – 1] Mauro Esposito 1 – 1 38` [0 – 1] Gianluca Comotto 49` [1 – 1] Erjon Bogdani Top scorers: 1. Luca Toni ("Fiorentina") – 22; 2. David Trezeguet ("Juventus") – 18; 3-4. Cristiano Lucarelli ("Livorno") – 13; Francesco Totti ("Roma") – 13; 5-8. Alberto Gilardino ("Milan") – 12; Adriano ("Inter") – 12; Andriy Shevchenko ("Milan") – 12; Francesco Tavano ("Empoli") – 12; 9. David Suazo ("Cagliari") – 11; 10. Enrico Chiesa ("Siena") – 10. League standings: