© EuroFootball.com
On Sunday in Italy, the remaining 31st round matches took place, in which "Sampdoria" suffered their sixth consecutive loss, the unsuccessful streak was also continued by "Livorno", and "Lazio" moved closer to the sixth place.
Two goals from Massimo Oddo secured a 2-0 home victory for "Lazio" against "Sampdoria". The Italian led his team forward in the 70th minute, when his powerful long-range shot, deflected by the opponent's head, flew into the goal guarded by Francesco Antonioli. The defender sealed his team's victory in extra time by converting a penalty from 11 meters, which was awarded after the "Sampdoria" defender touched the ball with his hand.
Another team that secured a victory for a place in next year's UEFA Cup was "Palermo", who defeated the outsider "Treviso" at home with a score of 1-0. In the 57th minute, Nigerian Stephen Makinwa sent the ball into the net with a header from a corner, securing three points for his team and pushing "Treviso" into an even worse situation in their attempt to stay in the league.
Meanwhile, the club "Empoli", fighting for survival in the league, is doing much better - the Tuscan team defeated "Livorno" 2-1. Once again, the leader of "Empoli" Francesco Tavano led the team forward, demonstrating excellent form recently.
"Chievo" managed to avoid defeat in the final minute against a "Ascoli" team that refuses to give up easily this year. As the match approached its end, it seemed that "Ascoli" would win 2-1, but "Chievo" player Amauri broke through two defenders and secured a point for his team.
In other matches, a draw of 1-1 was recorded between "Udinese" and "Messina". These were crucial matches for both teams in order to stay in the "Serie A" next season, and neither team is probably satisfied with a draw, as it means that their position will be determined in the remaining part of the championship.
An unexpected victory was also achieved by "Reggina" away from home, defeating the "Cagliari" team 2-0. The visitors scored both goals in the first 20 minutes of the match and did not allow their opponents to narrow the gap.
Another quite unexpected result was recorded in the match between "Siena" and "Lecce", where the visitors won 2-1 and gave themselves a chance in the battle to stay in the league.
Sunday's match statistics:
2 - 0
70` [1 - 0] Massimo Oddo
90` [2 - 0] Massimo Oddo (11m.)
1 - 0
57` [1 - 0] Stephen Makinwa
2 - 1
39` [1 - 0] Francesco Tavano
51` [2 - 0] Antonio Busce
87` [2 - 1] Cristiano Lucarelli (11m)
2 - 2
25` [0 - 1] Amauri
45` [1 - 1] Massimo Paci
62` [2 - 1] Massimo Paci
90` [2 - 2] Amauri
1 - 1
31` [1 - 0] Arturo Di Napoli
38` [1 - 1] Christian Obodo
0 - 2
8` [0 - 1] Alessandro Lucarelli
20` [0 - 2] Giacomo Tedesco
1 - 2
4` [0 - 1] Guillermo Giacomazzi
71` [0 - 2] Mirko Vucinic
85` [1 - 2] Erjon Bogdani
77` Francesco Colonnese was sent off from the field ("Siena")
League standings:
