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On Sunday, the remaining 29 round matches were played in the strongest Italian league. The leader "Inter" further distanced themselves from the pursuers, taking advantage of a draw by "Roma." "Lazio" secured a crucial victory by defeating "Empoli," while "Udinese" bounced back from setbacks by crushing the "Livorno" team. Important victories in the fight for survival were achieved by "Chievo," "Reggina," "Torino," and "Parma," while M.Ambrosini pushed "Milan" towards the top four.
The championship leader "Inter" played away against "Ascoli," who were in the last place, and managed to defeat them with a score of 2-1.
The hosts held on until the 65th minute, but then the skill of Adriano and Zlatan Ibrahimovic changed the course of the match. Adriano crossed the ball from the right side, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was in the penalty area, beautifully sent it into the goal.
Just eight minutes later, the gap between the teams doubled. Once again, the tandem of two "Inter" attackers worked together. Adriano's pass set up Zlatan Ibrahimovic one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and the Swede directed the ball into the goal between the goalkeeper's legs. Although the "Ascoli" defenders raised their hands claiming that the "Inter" forward was offside during the pass, it is clearly seen in the video replay that the Swede was not offside.
At the end of the match, "Ascoli" managed to score a consolation goal. "Inter" defender Walter Samuel, while trying to clear the ball, raised his leg very high and narrowly missed hitting opponent Saša Bjelanovič in the face. The referee awarded a penalty kick to the visitors, which was successfully converted by Massimo Bonnani.
Meanwhile, the closest pursuer of the championship leaders, the "Roma" club, failed to take advantage of their numerical superiority, dominating most of the match, and played to a 0-0 draw away against the "Fiorentina" team.
In the 34th minute, "Fiorentina" defender Dario Dainelli brought down the visiting captain Francesco Totti from behind, leading to Dainelli receiving his second yellow card and thus having to leave the field. However, the hosts had a chance to snatch a victory, but Manuel Pasqual's shot hit the goalpost.
As for the battle for a place in the Champions League, the "Milan" team secured a victory at home with a score of 1-0 against "Atalanta." The winning goal for the Milanese was scored by Massimo Ambrosini, who saved his team again this season. The Italian headed in a corner kick from Kaka in the 40th minute.
"Udinese" ended a streak of six consecutive winless matches by defeating the "Livorno" team 4-0 at home, a team that is increasingly losing hope of securing a place in European tournaments next season. The hosts were led to victory by the excellent play of one of the team's leaders, Antonio Di Natale, who scored two goals in the match.
Finally climbing out of the relegation zone, the "Reggina" club convincingly defeated the crisis-ridden "Catania" team 4-1 away. This was the ninth consecutive match for the Sicilian club where they failed to secure a win. However, the goals in the match were all scored in the second half.
The second goal for "Reggina" was scored after a bizarre mistake by the home team's goalkeeper. Armando Pantanelli tried to catch a ball rolling harmlessly towards him, but it went through the player's legs into the goal.
The "Torino" club achieved a rare victory away against the "Messina" club with a score of 3-0, sending the Sicilians into the relegation zone. This was the third victory out of four matches for the new Torino coach Gianni De Biasi.
The "Chievo" club, also starting to secure victories after a change in coaches, won 2-0 away against one of their rivals in the tournament table, "Cagliari." The Verona team's goals were scored by Erjon Bogdani and Matteo Brighi.
Meanwhile, Claudio Ranieri secured his first victory as the coach of the "Parma" team. The club, fighting for survival in the league, won 1-0 at home against the "Siena" team. The only goal of the match was scored by Andrea Gasbarroni in the 19th minute.
In the final round of matches, "Lazio" extended their winning streak and at home defeated the former neighbor in the tournament table, "Empoli," with a score of 3-1. The Rome team controlled the situation in the match and gradually drowned their opponents with accurate shots. "Empoli" managed to score a consolation goal at the end of the match.
Results of Sunday's matches:
1 – 2 " " 65` [0 – 1] Zlatan Ibrahimovic 73` [0 – 2] Zlatan Ibrahimovic 90` [1 – 2] Massimo Bonnani (11m)
0 – 0 33` Dario Dainelli sent off from the field ("Fiorentina")
1 – 0 40` [1 – 0] Massimo Ambrosini
4 – 0 34` [1 – 0] Antonio Di Natale 37` [2 – 0] Gyan Asamoah 69` [3 – 0] Antonio Di Natale 83` [4 – 0] Paulo Barreto (11m)
1 – 4 58` [0 – 1] Nicola Amoruso 62` [0 – 2] Pasquale Foggia 85` [0 – 3] Rolando Bianchi 88` [0 – 4] Ricardo Esteves 90` [1 – 4] Fausto Rossini
0 – 3 26` [0 – 1] Roberto Muzzi 77` [0 – 2] Alessandro Rosina (11m) 85` [1 – 2] Roberto Stellone
0 – 2 50` [0 – 1] Matteo Brighi 55` [0 – 2] Erjon Bogdani
1 – 0 19` [1 – 0] Andrea Gasbarroni 76` Paul Constantin Codrea sent off from the field ("Siena")
3 – 1 8` [1 – 0] Goran Pandev 27` [2 – 0] Tommaso Rocchi 74` [3 – 0] Christian Jose Manfredini 89` [3 – 1] Sergio Almiron
Top scorers of the championship:
1. Francesco Totti ("Roma") – 18; 2-4. Luca Toni ("Fiorentina") – 15; Rolando Bianchi ("Reggina") – 15; Zlatan Ibrahimovic ("Inter") – 15; 5-6. Adrian Mutu ("Fiorentina") – 13; Tommaso Rocchi ("Lazio") – 13; 7-9. Gionatha Spinesi ("Catania") – 12; Cristiano Lucarelli ("Livorno") – 12; Christian Rigano ("Messina") – 12; 10-11. Igor Budan ("Parma") – 11; Fabio Quagliarella ("Sampdoria") – 11; 12-14. Cristiano Doni ("Atalanta") – 10; Vincenzo Iaquinta ("Udinese") – 10; Goran Pandev ("Lazio") – 10; 15-17. Hernan Crespo ("Inter") – 9; David Suazo ("Cagliari") – 9; Nicola Amoruso ("Reggina") – 9; 18-21. Amauri ("Palermo") – 8; Sasa Bjelanovic ("Ascoli") – 8; Alberto Gilardino ("Milan") – 8; Alessandro Rosina ("Torino") – 8; 22-28. Amantino Mancini ("Roma") – 7; Giorgio Corona ("Catania") - 7; David Di Michele ("Palermo") – 7; Eugenio Corini ("Palermo") – 7; Riccardo Zampagna ("Atalanta") – 7; Antonio Di Natale ("Udinese") – 7; Luca Saudati ("Empoli") – 7.
League Table:
Note: due to the corruption scandal, "Fiorentina" had 15 points deducted, "Reggina" - 11, "Milan" - 8, "Lazio" - 3. Due to financial reasons, "Siena" had 1 point deducted.
