© EuroFootball.com
On Sunday, the remaining 5 round matches were played in the Italian league. "Inter" and "Milan" disappointed their fans by failing to secure a victory, with "Roma" becoming the championship leader. Wins were earned by "Sampdoria" and "Fiorentina", with Lithuanian Toms Danilevičius' goal deciding the victory for the "Livorno" club.
AC Milan extended their series of failures with a 1-1 draw against "Cagliari" on the road. Milan started the match with all three forwards - Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Adriano, and Hernan Crespo. It was the first time this season that Roberto Mancini decided to play with a three-forward tactic.
The hosts started the match more successfully. In the 17th minute, "Inter" defenders left Leonardo Colucci unmarked near the goal, and he received a pass from Mauro Esposito and sent the ball into the net. After half an hour of the match, "Inter" had to replace the injured Hernan Crespo with Santiago Solari.
Adriano later sent the ball into the net, but the goal was disallowed for offside. However, "Inter" managed to equalize before the break. Fabio Grosso received a cross from Maicon, which Adriano also touched on the way, and then sent the ball into the net with a low shot. However, the goal scorer also had to leave the field due to an injury, further complicating the injury-hit "Inter's" situation.
With Milan's failure, "Roma" club climbed to the first place, narrowly beating "Empoli" 1-0. Vincenzo Montella scored the only goal for the capital club in the 23rd minute. Italian headed home a cross from Max Tonetto, securing Roma's victory against his former club.
Meanwhile, "Milan" settled for a third consecutive 0-0 draw. This time, the Milan team failed to beat the "Siena" club at home. The hero of the match was the visitors' goalkeeper Alex Manninger, who miraculously saved his team from conceding a goal several times, frustrating Milan's coach Carlo Ancelotti, whose players failed to score for the third consecutive match.
"Livorno" continued their successful streak, defeating the "Messina" club 1-0 away. The hero of the match was Lithuanian Tomas Danilevičius, who scored the winning goal in the 76th minute from a pass by Stefano Morrone. This was already the second goal by the Lithuanian in the top Italian championship.
"Fiorentina" ended their series of failures with a convincing win. The Florence club defeated newcomers "Catania" 3-0 at home. The hosts took the lead in the 54th minute when Luca Toni's shot was blocked by the visitors' goalkeeper Armando Pantanelli, but Martin Jorgensen, who came on as a substitute, was first to the ball and sent it into the net.
The lead was doubled in the 80th minute by last season's top scorer Luca Toni, whose powerful shot from the crossbar flew into the net. Four minutes later, any doubts about the outcome of the match were dispelled by Dario Dainelli, who sent the ball into the opponents' goal after a corner kick. The visitors finished the match with nine players, as Mattia Biso and Lorenzo Stovini received red cards.
In the most productive match of the round, "Sampdoria" defeated "Parma" 3-2 at home. The hosts had not won a match in as many as 17 games in a row before this match, so these 3 points finally made it easier for the team's coach, Walter Novellino, to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Udinese" could not beat the veteran Gianluca Pagliuca, settling for a 0-0 draw at home against "Ascoli".
In the last matches of the round, "Palermo" narrowly defeated the crisis-hit "Chievo" club 1-0 away. The victory for the Sicilian club was sealed by Eugenio Corini's goal in the 31st minute.
Results of Sunday's matches:
"” 1 – 1 "”
17` [1 – 0] Leonardo Colucci
37` [1 – 1] Fabio Grosso
"” 1 – 0 "”
23` [1 – 0] Vincenzo Montella
"” 0 – 0 "”
"” 0 – 1 "”
76` [0 – 1] Tomas Danilevičius
"” 3 – 0 "”
54` [1 – 0] Martin Jorgensen
80` [2 – 0] Luca Toni
84` [3 – 0] Dario Dainelli
36` Mattia Biso sent off ("Catania”)
81` Lorenzo Stovini sent off ("Catania”)
"” 3 – 2 "”
4` [0 – 1] Daniele Dessena
23` [1 – 1] Daniele Franceschini
53` [2 – 1] Gennaro Delvecchio
64` [3 – 1] Emiliano Bonazzoli
78` [3 – 2] Matteo Contini (11m)
"” 0 – 0 "”
"” 0 – 1 "”
31` [1 – 0] Eugenio Corini
Most productive players in the championship:
1. Rolando Bianchi ("Atalanta”) – 4;
2-8. Hernan Crespo ("Inter”) – 3;
Gennaro Delvecchio ("Sampdoria") – 3;
Mario Frick ("Siena") – 3;
Christian Rigano ("Messina") – 3;
Luca Toni ("Fiorentina") – 3;
Eugenio Corini ("Palermo") – 3;
Massimo Oddo ("Palermo") – 3;
League table:
Note: Due to the corruption scandal, "Fiorentina" lost 19 points, "Reggina" - 15, "Lazio" - 11, "Milan" - 8 points.
