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The Sicilian derby between "Messina" and "Palermo" took place at the "San Filippo" stadium. The home team defeated their opponents 2-0, but the "Palermo" players were very unhappy with the referees' performance in these matches.
In the first half, "Palermo" forward David Di Michele was brought down in the opponents' penalty area, but the referee did not see a foul in this episode and allowed the match to continue. "Messina" took the lead at the end of this half. Christian Rigano, who played for the first time in three months, outjumped the opponents and headed Edgar Alvarez's shot into the goal. However, in the replay of the episode, it can be seen that Edgar Alvarez was offside when receiving the ball.
The second half started with two "Palermo" players, Cristiano Zaccardo and David Di Michele, taking shots on goal. In the 61st minute, "Palermo" forward Andrea Caracciolo, who had just appeared on the field, asked the referee to award a penalty kick to the opponents' goal, later pushing the referee and receiving a red card. Taking advantage of the numerical superiority, the "Messina" players secured their victory. In the 65th minute, E. Alvarez once again made a successful pass, and C. Rigano scored with a precise header.
The "Lazio" team successfully capitalized on this failure of "Palermo" by narrowly defeating the "Sampdoria" club 1-0 at home, reducing their gap from "Palermo" to two points.
The only goal of the match was scored in the first half, in the 23rd minute. Tommaso Rocchi received a pass from Gaby Mundigayi and headed the ball into the goal. "Sampdoria" goalkeeper Luca Castellazzi managed to touch the ball with his hand, but not enough to push the ball away and it went into the goal.
The biggest surprise of the season, "Empoli", continued to surprise football experts. This time, the club unexpectedly defeated the average-ranking "Udinese" team 1-0 away.
In the match between the teams fighting for a place in the Champions League, "Fiorentina" mercilessly crushed the poor-performing "Torino" club 5-1 at home.
However, the meeting started more optimistically for the visiting club. In the 15th minute, Alessandro Rosina received a pass from Fabio Gallo and shot towards the goal. The ball was deflected by the "Fiorentina" goalkeeper Sebastien Frey, but the Frenchman could not do anything before A. Rosina's second shot.
"Fiorentina" managed to equalize in the 31st minute. A delivery from Reginaldo reached Luca Toni, who sent the ball into the net. Just three minutes later, L. Toni celebrated his second goal. After a corner kick near the "Torino" goal, a few players touched the ball before it went into the net from an Italian player's touch.
At the beginning of the second half, L. Toni almost scored his third goal after a high delivery from Manuel Pasqualo, but "Torino" defender Ivan Franceschini was the first to the ball and directed it into his own goal.
At the end of the match, another "Fiorentina" player, Alessandro Gamberini, managed to score twice. The home team's defender headed the ball into the net twice from a corner kick. In the 85th minute, "Torino" defender I. Franceschini managed to score from the wrong side, bringing down a "Fiorentina" player in the opponents' penalty area. The referee awarded a penalty kick, but Christian Abbiati was able to save Adriano Mutu's shot.
In a match between teams fighting to avoid relegation, "Parma" saved themselves from defeat against the "Reggina" team in the final seconds of the game. The match ended in a 2-2 draw.
The first goals were scored by the "Reggina" players. In the 13th minute, Giandomenico Mesto sprinted down the right side of the field and crossed the ball into the penalty area, where Rolando Bianchi beat the opponent's goalkeeper with a precise shot.
However, nine minutes later, the hosts celebrated a goal. Igor Budan sent a ball raised during a corner kick into the visitors' goal. In the 34th minute, "Parma" had the opportunity to take the lead when the referee awarded a penalty kick to their goal, but the "Reggina" goalkeeper Andrea Campagnolo saved Giuseppe Rossi's shot.
Six minutes later, the rule "if you don't score, they will" was confirmed. "Reggina" forward Rolando Bianchi scored his second goal with a shot from 20 meters.
"Parma" fans had to wait for the equalizing goal until the 97th minute. The referee awarded a penalty kick to the visitors' goal. Giuseppe Rossi took the responsibility again, but this time he scored a goal with a shot to the top corner.
The "Cagliari" team secured a victory after a long break, defeating the "Atalanta" team 2-0 at home. The latter team last won at this stadium in 1964.
Already in the 4th minute, the hosts celebrated a goal. Leonardo Colucci passed the ball to David Suazo, who sent the ball into the far corner of the goal with his left foot. In the 33rd minute, "Atalanta" failed to take advantage of a chance to equalize when Cristiano Doni missed a penalty kick next to the goal. In the 66th minute, "Atalanta" defender Adriano was shown a red card, and the hosts secured their victory in the 71st minute with a goal from Simone Pepe, who came on as a substitute.
In the match played at a neutral stadium, "Catania" drew 1-1 with the "Siena" team. The "Catania" team took the lead in the 56th minute after a goal scored by Giorgio Corona, but in the 74th minute, "Siena" defender Francesco Cozza equalized the score.
Sunday's match results:
2 – 0
45` [1 – 0] Christian Rigano
65` [2 – 0] Christian Rigano
61` Andrea Caracciolo sent off ("Palermo")
1 – 0
22` [1 – 0] Tommaso Rocchi
0 – 1
18` [0 – 1] Nicola Pozzi
5 – 1
15` [0 – 1] Alessandro Rosina
31` [1 – 1] Luca Toni
34` [2 – 1] Luca Toni
52` [3 – 1] Ivan Franceschini (own goal)
75` [4 – 1] Alessandro Gamberini
83` [5 – 1] Alessandro Gamberini
2 – 2
13` [0 – 1] Rolando Bianchi
23` [1 – 1] Igor Budan
40` [1 – 2] Rolando Bianchi
90` [2 – 2] Giuseppe Rossi (penalty kick)
2 – 0
4` [1 – 0] David Suazo
71` [2 – 0] Simone Pepe
66` Adriano sent off ("Atalanta")
1 – 1
56` [1 – 0] Giorgio Corona
73` [1 – 1] Francesco Cozza
Top scorers of the league: 1. Francesco Totti ("Roma") – 16; 2. Luca Toni ("Fiorentina") – 15; 3. Rolando Bianchi ("Reggina") – 14; 4-7. Gionatha Spinesi ("Catania") – 12; Adrian Mutu ("Fiorentina") – 12; Zlatan Ibrahimovic ("Inter") – 12; Tommaso Rocchi ("Lazio") – 12; 8-10. Cristiano Lucarelli ("Livorno") – 11; Igor Budan ("Parma") – 11; Christian Rigano ("Messina") – 11; 11-13. Cristiano Doni ("Atalanta") – 10; Vincenzo Iaquinta ("Udinese") – 10; Fabio Quagliarella ("Sampdoria") – 10; 14. Hernan Crespo ("Inter") – 9; 15-19. Amauri ("Palermo") – 8; Nicola Amoruso ("Reggina") – 8; Goran Pandev ("Lazio") – 8; Alberto Gilardino ("Milan") – 8; David Suazo ("Cagliari") – 8; 20-26. Sasa Bjelanovic ("Ascoli") – 7; Amantino Mancini ("Roma") – 7; Goran Pandev ("Lazio") – 7; David Di Michele ("Palermo") – 7; Eugenio Corini ("Palermo") – 7; Riccardo Zampagna ("Atalanta") – 7; Giorgio Corrona ("Catania") – 7.
League table: (Note: due to a corruption scandal, "Fiorentina" was deducted 15 points, "Reggina" - 11 points, "Milan" - 8 points, "Lazio" - 3 points. Due to financial reasons, "Siena" was deducted 1 point.)
