© EuroFootball.com
On Sunday, the remaining 19 matches of the Italian championship were played. At the very end of the match, "Roma" let victory slip from their hands, while "Palermo" and "Milan" celebrated victories, while "Atalanta" crushed the "Livorno" team.
Christian Chivu's mistake at the very end of the match prevented the "Roma" team from winning away against "Messina". The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
The guests took the lead in the 39th minute. Francesco Totti and Rodrigo Taddei exchanged passes and the ball found its way to the Brazilian Mancini, who defeated the opposing goalkeeper with a low shot. Despite rumors that the players were feuding, F.Totti and Mancini celebrated the goal together. The "Messina" players were furious, as some of their players were lying injured at the other end of the field. Some fans even ran onto the field.
However, at the end of the match, just when it seemed that "Roma" would celebrate victory, the team's defender Christian Chivu stupidly brought down the opponent Arturo Di Napoli and the referee awarded a penalty kick to the guests' goal. It was converted by Alessandro Parisi. This player also received a red card for a rough challenge on the opponent Christian Wilhelmsson.
"Milan" also faced difficulties against their opponents, but managed to defeat the "Reggina" team at home with a score of 3-1.
In the 6th minute, Andrea Pirlo scored a great penalty kick to put the hosts in the lead. In the 35th minute, Clarence Seedorf received a pass from his teammate Marek Jankulovski and doubled the lead with a precise shot.
However, "Reggina" brought some intrigue into the match when Rolando Bianchi scored a great long-distance goal in the 66th minute to reduce the gap between the teams. The visitors attacked the opponents' goal, but left too much space in defense, allowing Alberto Gilardino to score in the 78th minute by lobbing the ball over the opposing goalkeeper Ivan Pelizzoli.
"Palermo" also celebrated victory. The Sicilian club defeated "Udinese" 2-0 at home.
"Palermo" took the lead in the 32nd minute. Andrea Caracciolo was left unmarked in the visitors' penalty area and after receiving a pass from Fabio Simplicio, he scored with a header against the opponents' goalkeeper. This was the first goal for the Italian after a nine-month break.
The hosts secured the victory in the 74th minute. Eugenio Corini's shot deflected off the "Udinese" defender Cesare Natale and changed direction to find Cristian Zaccardo, who headed in his second goal of the match.
Former Tom Danilevičiaus club "Livorno" continued to struggle. This time, the team suffered a humiliating 1-5 defeat to "Atalanta" away. In this match, "Atalanta" leader Cristiano Doni played excellently once again, scoring the first two goals of the match. Meanwhile, the visitors' defender Carmine Coppola's debut with the new team was not the best - he received a red card in the 47th minute.
"Sampdoria" had more chances to score against "Fiorentina", but failed to capitalize on them and the match ended in a 0-0 draw. Within the ranks of the Florence team, yellow cards were received by Tomas Ujfalusi and Adrian Mutu, meaning that both players will miss the next round of matches against the championship leaders "Inter".
"Chievo" found themselves in a challenging role, but managed to defeat "Catania" who were in fourth place at home with a score of 2-1.
The visitors took the lead in the 40th minute with a goal from Lorenzo Stovini. However, in the 58th minute, Franco Semioli equalized the score, overpowering the opponents' goalkeeper. Just five minutes later, the referee awarded a penalty kick to "Catania" and Sergio Pellissier successfully converted it.
"Cagliari" narrowly defeated the bottom team of the championship "Ascoli" at home with a 1-0 score. The hosts secured the victory with a 15th-minute goal scored by David Suazo from the penalty spot.
In the final matches of the round, another capital club failed to hold on to victory at the end of the match. "Lazio" played a 1-1 draw with "Siena" at home.
Roma's club took the lead after a 60th-minute goal by Tommaso Rocchi, but Francesco Cozza of the away team equalized the score in the 87th minute.
Top scorers of the championship:
1. Francesco Totti ("Roma") – 12;
2. Gionathan Spinesi ("Catania") – 11;
3-4. Adrian Mutu ("Fiorentina") – 10;
Rolando Bianchi ("Fiorentina") – 10;
5-8. Fabio Quagliarella ("Sampdoria") – 9,
Luca Toni ("Fiorentina") – 9;
Christian Rigano ("Messina") – 9;
Cristiano Doni ("Atalanta") – 9;
9-12. Amauri ("Palermo") – 8;
Igor Budan ("Parma") – 8;
Zlatan Ibrahimovic ("Inter") – 8;
Vincenzo Iaquinta ("Udinese") – 8.
