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On Saturday, two matches of the 13th round of the Italian championship were played. "Milan" club finally managed to earn three points by defeating "Messina" club, while "Chievo" scored their first victory of the season unexpectedly beating "Udinese" team.
"Milan" had only earned one point in the last four matches before the 13th round, but this unsuccessful series ended yesterday as the club defeated "Messina" at home with a score of 1-0. However, the goal drought of Milan's attackers continued, as the only goal of the match was scored by defender Paolo Maldini.
"Milan" started the match without their main goalkeeper Dida, who suffered a serious injury, but this did not prevent the "red and blacks" from starting the match successfully. In the 13th minute, world champion Andrea Pirlo sent the ball into the opponent's penalty area, where the legendary Milan player Paolo Maldini headed it past the opponent's goalkeeper Marco Storari.
This goal was followed by dangerous attacks from other "Milan" players Alberto Gilardino and Yoann Gourcuff, but their shots did not hit the target. Just before the end of the first half, the visitors also had a chance to score, but Cristiano Rigano's header was caught by "Milan" goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac.
The same C. Rigano created another dangerous chance in the 66th minute, and this time his header beat the opponents' goalkeeper, but the ball flew just a few centimeters wide. Brazilian Kaka managed to increase the statistics of this season's "Milan" club's shots on goal even more - his shot hit the goalpost. The hosts threatened the opponents' goal several more times, but the score remained the same until the end of the match.
In the other Saturday matches, "Chievo" scored their first victory of the season at home by defeating the unstable "Udinese" team with a score of 2-0. The victory for the Verona club was determined by two goals from Nigerian Victor Obinna.
In the 31st minute, "Udinese" goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis made a serious mistake, failing to secure the ball properly, which bounced to the opponent Victor Obinna who then sent the ball into the goal. Meanwhile, in the 72nd minute, the visitors' defender Felipe handled the ball in their penalty area, and the referee awarded a penalty kick to the Udinese team. The penalty was converted by V. Obinna, who scored his second goal.
Saturday's match results:
1 – 0
13' [1 – 0] Paolo Maldini
2 – 0
31' [1 – 0] Victor Obinna
72' [2 – 0] Victor Obinna (penalty)
Top scorers of the championship:
1. Christian Rigano ("Messina") - 9;
2-6. Amauri ("Palermo") - 6;
Igor Budan ("Parma") - 6;
Rolando Bianchi ("Reggina") - 6;
Vincenzo Iaquinta ("Udinese") - 6;
Eugenio Corini ("Palermo") - 6.
