Round 25: Secured victories for the favorites

2007-02-25 21:04 © EuroFootball.com

On Sunday, the remaining 25 round matches were played in the Italian championship. The favorites "Inter", "Roma", "Lazio", "Milan" and "Fiorentina" secured victories, while the league's underdogs "Messina" unexpectedly defeated their opponents. The match between "Udinese" and "Parma" ended in a draw with a high-scoring result.

"Inter" secured their 17th consecutive victory in "Serie A" by crushing the "Catania" team away with a score of 5-2. The match was played in the city of Cesena without spectators due to the ban on "Catania" playing home matches in their own stadium.

The Milan team surged ahead just before halftime. Dejan Stanković took a corner kick, and Walter Samuel headed the ball into the opponents' goal. In the 49th minute, another Argentine and former "Real Madrid" player scored. Santiago Solari doubled the difference between the teams with a low shot from the penalty area.

The third goal for "Inter" was somewhat curious. Fabio Grosso, positioned on the left side of the field, attempted to cross the ball into the penalty area, but it flew past the opponents' goalkeeper and ended up in the net.

After ten minutes, "Catania" reduced the gap when one of the most prolific players in this season's "Serie A", Gionatha Spinesi, took advantage of a mistake by Ivano Cordoba and, eluding "Inter" goalkeeper Julio Cesar, sent the ball into the goal. However, just three minutes later, "Inter" restored a three-goal lead. Zlatan Ibrahimović exchanged passes with Santiago Solari and coolly beat the opponents' goalkeeper.

Nevertheless, "Catania" didn't give up and once again reduced the deficit from their opponents after four minutes. Giorgio Corona took advantage of a lapse in concentration by the "Inter" defenders and, receiving a long pass, scored his team's second goal. However, the goal fest didn't end there, as in the 78th minute, "Inter" scored for the fifth time. Julio Cruz received a cross from Maicon and calmly sent the ball into the net.

In the 88th minute, Gionatha Spinesi was shown a second yellow card and was sent off the field for a reckless foul against an opponent.

"Roma" also confidently defeated the "Reggina" club at home with a score of 3-0, although Francesco Totti failed to convert a penalty kick.

In the 55th minute, "Roma" surged ahead thanks to the first goal by Francesco Tavano in this club. F. Totti's penalty shot rebounded off the wall and fell to F. Tavano, who didn't hesitate to score. Even though the "Reggina" players tried to convince the referee that F. Tavano was in an offside position when receiving the ball, the replay showed that the goal should stand. Ten minutes later, the hosts managed to score their second goal. David Pizarro took a corner kick, and Philippe Mexes headed the ball into the net.

In the 85th minute, F. Totti entered the opponents' penalty area and was fouled. The referee awarded a penalty kick to "Reggina", and F. Totti stepped up to take it himself. However, the Italian's shot was easily saved by the visiting goalkeeper Andrea Campagnolo. This was already the sixth unsuccessful penalty kick by the "Roma" captain this season.

Nevertheless, "Roma" managed to score their third goal. In the 89th minute, Mirko Vučinić passed the ball to defender Christian Panucci, who successfully beat the "Reggina" goalkeeper. At the end of the match, there was a confrontation between F. Totti and the visiting goalkeeper. The "Roma" captain felt that A. Campagnolo was mocking him for missing the penalty kick and demanded an explanation.

"Empoli" lost their fourth place spot by losing 0-2 away to "Fiorentina", who were on a strong run towards fourth place.

The hosts surged ahead in the 27th minute. "Empoli" defender Francesco Pratali cleared the ball, which had almost reached Luca Toni, but Adrian Mutu reacted superbly and sent the rebound into the net. In the 75th minute, a great combination by "Fiorentina" led to another goal for the team. Martin Jorgensen passed the ball to Manuel Pasqual, who directed it to Luca Toni, who just had to send the ball into the empty net.

Capitalizing on "Empoli's" misfortune, the "Lazio" club moved up to fourth place by defeating the "Cagliari" team away with a score of 2-0.

Emilson Sanchez Cribari scored his first goal of the season in the 21st minute, putting his team ahead. The defender found himself unmarked in the opponents' penalty area and headed Cristiano Ledesma's cross into the opponents' goal.

In the 34th minute, Tommaso Rocchi's excellent shot from the edge of the penalty area beat the opponents' goalkeeper, ensuring victory for his team.

"Udinese" played to a 3-3 draw at home against the "Parma" team in a thrilling match. At the beginning of the match, "Parma" surged ahead after Igor Budan's goal, but after two consecutive goals by Antonio Di Natale, "Udinese" took the lead. However, Francesco Parravicini equalized the score, and at the end of the match, the teams exchanged goals again, ending in a 3-3 draw.

In the dying moments of the match, the "Messina" club secured a victory against "Siena" with a 1-0 result. This was the Sicilian club's first victory since October. Towards the end of the match, Edgar Alvarez took advantage of a defensive error by the opponents' defenders and scored his first goal for the "Messina" club, giving his team the victory.

"Livorno" failed to beat the absolute underdog "Ascoli" at home, with the match ending goalless.

In the last round of matches, "Milan" secured a victory in the final moments of the match against "Sampdoria" with a 1-0 result.

The first half of the match was marked by red cards. In the 10th minute, "Milan" defender Massimo Oddo committed a serious foul against his opponent Emiliano Bonazzoli and was shown a red card, although the Italian tried to prove that he had been fouled first. The balance of power on the field was restored in the 39th minute. "Sampdoria" player Rubens Olivera fouled Kaka and received his second yellow card.

The hero of the match was Massimo Ambrosini. Just when it seemed like the match would end goalless, the player saved his team. In added time, Marek Jankulovski crossed the ball into the opponents' penalty area, where "Sampdoria" defender Cristian Zenoni slipped, allowing M. Ambrosini to score with his head unchallenged, sending the ball into the opponents' goal. The Italian decided the victory for his team in the dying moments of the match for the second consecutive round.

Sunday's match results: