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The 16th round of the Italian championship started with two matches on Saturday. In a battle of giants struggling at the bottom of the standings in Florence, Milan snatched a point in a match against Fiorentina, while Udinese, playing with ten men for half of the match, defeated Cagliari, returning to the fight for fourth place.
The corruption scandal that shook Italy over the summer meant that both Fiorentina and Milan are currently fighting not for top positions, but for the 15th position. However, Milan has been demonstrating poor play recently, as they have only collected six points in their last seven matches, while Fiorentina had won two games in a row before this round.
Still, the match started better for the visitors as Alberto Gilardino exploited Cristiano Brocchi's pass from Fiorentina to score one-on-one against Sebastien Frey. However, Milan's lead didn't last long, as in the 20th minute Kakha Kaladze fouled Luca Toni in the penalty area and Adrian Mutu converted the resulting penalty kick.
Later, both teams exchanged dangerous attacks, but struggled to find the back of the net for a long time. With 14 minutes remaining, the hosts took the lead after Martino Jorgensen's pass did not reach Luca Toni, but fell to the free A. Mutu, who "shot" past goalkeeper Z. Kalac to score his and his team's second goal.
Shortly after, M. Jorgensen almost scored again, but his header flew just above the crossbar. Milan went on the offensive, and in the final minute of the match, after Y. Gourcuff's lifted corner kick, Marek Jankulovski changed the direction of the ball and A. Gilardino headed in the equalizer from five yards out.
In the other match of the day, neighbors in the standings Udinese and Cagliari faced off. However, there was no fierce battle here, as the hosts gained a two-goal advantage in the first half. In the 17th minute, Giampaolo Pinzi scored from close range, and ten minutes later, Vincenzo Iaquinta finished a counterattack with precision.
Udinese finished the first half with one less player, as Sulley Muntari was sent off for a rough foul, but his team increased their lead after the break. In the second half, after six minutes, Antonio Di Natale caused chaos in the Cagliari defense and passed the ball to Christian Obodo, who scored the third goal.
As the match neared its end, the visitors scored a consolation goal through a substitute, Andrea Cocco. However, this goal did not affect the final result, as Udinese secured a victory, jumping to 8th place in the standings and leveling points with Atalanta and Livorno.
Saturday's results
3 - 1
17' [1 - 0] Giampiero Pinzi
27' [2 - 0] Vincenzo Iaquinta
51' [3 - 0] Christian Obodo
82' [3 - 1] Andrea Cocco
45' Sulley Ali Muntari ("Udinese")
2 - 2
4' [0 - 1] Alberto Gilardino
20' [1 - 1] Adrian Mutu (11m.)
76' [2 - 1] Adrian Mutu
90' [2 - 2] Alberto Gilardino
