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On Sunday, all 37th round matches were played in the Italian championship. The leaders of the championship, "Juventus" and "Milan", secured victories. "Fiorentina", "Roma" and "Lazio" also added three points to their tally, while "Inter" and "Chievo" failed to overcome the championship underdogs.
A significant step towards the title in the champions' race was taken by the "Juventus" club, as they overcame the "Palermo" club 2-1 at the "Delle Alpi" stadium.
The Turin team took the lead in the 31st minute. Mauro Camoranesi crossed the ball into the penalty area, where Czech player Pavel Nedved took advantage of a mistake by the visitors' defender and scored the first goal for his team with a strong shot.
The second goal was scored six minutes before the end of the second half. Zlatan Ibrahimović found himself alone against the goalkeeper during a counterattack and sent the ball between his legs into the goal.
However, "Palermo" did not give up and reduced the gap after ten minutes, when Denis Godeas dribbled past the hosts' defender Federico Balzaretti and sent the ball into the top corner of the goal.
After this goal, the "Juventus" players became unsettled and the visitors started pushing for an equalizer. In the 78th minute, "Palermo" almost leveled the score, but Stephen Makinwa's shot flew just wide of the goal.
However, the "Juventus" defense held firm and the Turin club celebrated a crucial victory. "Juventus" only need to play a draw in the last round to secure the title, as they maintain a three-point lead over second-placed "Milan".
Meanwhile, "Milan" won 3-2 away against the "Parma" club, keeping their slim hopes alive of winning the "Serie A".
Already in the first half, the visitors showed that they were very serious in these matches. Kaka's goal from the penalty spot and another precise shot by the Brazilian Cafu allowed the "Milan" players to go into halftime with a two-goal lead.
However, at the start of the second half, "Parma" showed that they were not willing to give in easily to the titled club from Milan. Bernardo Corradi, after beating the offside trap, defeated the visitors' goalkeeper Dida and the score became 2-1.
But just two minutes later, "Milan" midfielder Clarence Seedorf scored a third goal for his team with a great shot from 30 meters. "Parma" managed to reduce the gap to 3-2 with a goal by Bernardo Corradi two minutes before the end of the match, but this goal had little impact on the outcome of the game.
Meanwhile, another Milan club, "Inter", once again disappointed their fans by playing a 1-1 draw at home against the underdogs "Siena".
"Inter" took the lead in the 60th minute with a goal by the Argentine Julio Ricardo Cruz, but they let the victory slip at the end of the match after the team's defender Nicolas Burdisso received a red card and "Siena" defender Daniele Gastaldello equalized from a corner kick.
Nicola Pozzi's two goals allowed "Empoli" to win 2-1 away against the future "Serie B" team "Messina". The latter had to play the last ten minutes with ten men after Antonio Nocerino was sent off.
"Udinese" won 2-0 at home against the "Cagliari" team, allowing them to surpass three opponents in the league table and climb to twelfth place.
Results of the 37th round:
2 - 1
31' [1 - 0] Pavel Nedved
51' [2 - 0] Zlatan Ibrahimovic
62' [2 - 1] Denis Godeas
1 - 3
29' [0 - 1] Kaka (Pen.)
43' [0 - 2] Cafu
54' [1 - 2] Bernardo Corradi
56' [1 - 3] Clarence Seedorf
88' [2 - 3] Bernardo Corradi
1 - 1
60' [1 - 0] Julio Ricardo Cruz
90' [1 - 1] Daniele Gastaldello
90' Nicolas Burdisso sent off ("Inter")
5 - 2
25' [1 - 0] Stefano Fiore
27' [2 - 0] Luca Toni
34' [3 - 0] Martin Jorgensen
64' [4 - 0] Luca Toni
65' [5 - 0] Valeri Bojinov
81' [5 - 1] Nicola Amoruso
84' [5 - 2] Nicola Amoruso
1 - 0
36' [1 - 0] Damiano Tommasi
1 - 4
6' [0 - 1] Guglielmo Stendardo
11' [0 - 2] Massimo Oddo (Pen.)
20' [0 - 3] Goran Pandev
30' [1 - 3] Marco Ferrante
57' [1 - 4] Tommaso Rocchi
0 - 0
44' Giuseppe Scurto sent off ("Chievo")
0 - 0
1 - 2
3' [0 - 1] Nicola Pozzi
70' [0 - 2] Nicola Pozzi
89' [1 - 2] Antonio Nocerino
81' Filippo Cristante sent off ("Messina")
2 - 0
15' [1 - 0] Vincenzo Iaquinta
68' [2 - 0] Paulo Barreto
Top scorers of the championship:
1. Luca Toni ("Fiorentina") - 30 goals;
2. David Trezeguet ("Juventus") - 22 goals;
3. David Suazo ("Cagliari") - 21 goals;
4-5. Andriy Shevchenko ("Milan") - 19 goals;
Cristiano Lucarelli ("Livorno") - 19 goals;
6. Francesco Tavano ("Empoli") - 18 goals;
7. Alberto Gilardino ("Milan") - 16 goals;
8-9. Tommaso Rocchi ("Lazio") - 15 goals;
Francesco Totti ("Roma") - 15 goals;
10. Julio Ricardo Cruz ("Inter") - 14 goals.
League table:
