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On Saturday, 31st round matches were played in Italy. "Milan" team secured an important victory against table neighbor "Empoli", "Lazio" celebrated their eighth consecutive win, but "Roma" also clinched a victory to stay close. "Inter" unexpectedly dropped points away from home, "Fiorentina" returned to the path of victories, while "Palermo" continued their poor form.
The "Milan" team significantly increased their chances of playing in the Champions League next year by defeating "Empoli" 3-1 at home.
In the 12th minute, "Empoli" defender Andrea Raggi slipped, allowing Kaka to pass the ball to Ronaldo, who found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper and sent the ball into the net below the crossbar.
However, the hosts didn't give up and equalized the score towards the end of the first half. Ighli Vanucchi unexpectedly passed the ball to Luca Saudati in the penalty area with a penalty kick, and he scored with a great shot past the opposition goalkeeper Dida. Nevertheless, just 10 seconds later, the hosts took the lead again in the match. Ronaldo passed the ball to Alberto Gilardino, who controlled the ball with his chest and sent it into the opponent's goal.
The hosts secured the victory in the 78th minute. Andrea Pirlo played a great pass to Giuseppe Favalli, who scored the third goal for the team with a precise shot.
Also fighting for a place in the Champions League, the "Lazio" team continued their winning streak by defeating the bottom team "Messina" 1-0 at home.
The capital team secured the victory with a goal scored by the team's defender in the 45th minute. Guglielmo Stendardo headed the ball into the net after a corner kick. In the 54th minute, the visitors were reduced to ten men after former "Roma" player Vincent Candela received a second yellow card for a foul on Valon Behrami.
In the Champions League match, "Roma" beat the struggling "Catania" club 2-0 away from home after beating "Manchester United".
In the 37th minute, a long pass from Davide Pizarro bounced off Mirko Vucinic and a defender to Francesco Tavano, who scored a powerful shot to put Roma ahead. In the 84th minute, the referee awarded a penalty against F.Tavano, and Simone Perrotta quickly passed the ball to M.Vucinic, who scored the second goal for Roma.
Milan's "Inter" team, still without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, unexpectedly failed to win against the struggling "Reggina" club away from home. The match ended in a goalless draw.
"Fiorentina" ended a three-match winless streak by thrashing the bottom team "Ascoli" 4-0 at home. The most notable performer in this match was Luca Toni, the top scorer from the previous "Serie A" season, who has already scored 16 goals this season.
"Palermo" suffered a humiliating defeat, losing 3-1 at home to "Cagliari". Although the hosts took the lead from the third minute, they were reduced to ten men in the 38th minute after Giuseppe Biava received a red card. "Cagliari" took advantage of this and, led by David Suazo, scored three goals. After the match, the president of "Palermo" hinted that the team's coach Francesco Guidolin might be fired, but he said he would think about it for a few more days.
"Sampdoria" secured an important victory in the fight for a place in next year's European tournaments by defeating "Torino" 1-0 at home. Emiliano Bonazzoli scored the only goal of the match in the 17th minute.
Meanwhile, one of "Sampdoria's" main rivals, "Udinese," squandered a two-goal lead and played to a 2-2 draw away against "Siena". The visitors took a 2-0 lead through goals from Antonio Di Natale and Vincenzo Iaquinta, but towards the end of the match, they ran out of steam and the opponents scored two goals to level the match.
"Atalanta" took advantage of Udinese's failure, defeating "Chievo" 1-0 at home. Three red cards were shown in the match, and in the 87th minute, the visitors missed a great opportunity to equalize when Victor Obinna failed to convert a penalty kick.
"Parma" secured a crucial victory in the fight for survival by defeating "Livorno" 1-0 at home in the final minutes. The hosts were determined by a great goal from Giuseppe Rossi in the 89th minute.
Results of Sunday's matches:
3-1 12' [1-0] Ronaldo 43' [1-1] Luca Saudati 44' [2-1] Alberto Gilardino 78' [3-1] Giuseppe Favalli
1-0 45' [1-0] Guglielmo Stendardo
Expelled at 54' Vincent Candela ("Messina")
0-2 37' [0-1] Francesco Tavano 84' [0-2] Mirko Vucinic
0-0
4-0 5' [1-0] Reginaldo 45' [2-0] Riccardo Montolivo 58' [3-0] Luca Toni 71' [4-0] Per Koldrup
1-3 3' [1-0] Mark Bresciano 37' [1-1] David Suazo (11m) 81' [1-2] Simone Pepe 86' [1-3] David Suazo
36' Expelled Giuseppe Biava ("Palermo")
1-0 17' [1-0] Emiliano Bonazzoli
2-2 42' [0-1] Antonio Di Natale 59' [0-2] Vincenzo Iaquinta 75' [1-2] Massimo Maccarone 80' [2-2] Paolo Negro
1-0 54' [1-0] Cristiano Doni (11m)
Expelled at 53' Lorenzo D'Anna ("Chievo") Expelled at 86' Simone Loria ("Atalanta") Expelled at 90' Luciano ("Chievo")
1-0 89' [1-0] Giuseppe Rossi
Top goalscorers in the league:
1. Francesco Totti ("Roma") - 18; 2. Luca Toni ("Fiorentina") - 16; 3-5. Rolando Bianchi ("Reggina") - 15; Zlatan Ibrahimovic ("Inter") - 15; Cristiano Lucarelli ("Livorno") - 15; 6. Tommaso Rocchi ("Lazio") - 14; 7. Adrian Mutu ("Fiorentina") - 13; 8-12. Gionatha Spinesi ("Catania") - 12; Christian Rigano ("Messina") - 12; Fabio Quagliarella ("Sampdoria") - 12; Cristiano Doni ("Atalanta") - 12; Vincenzo Iaquinta ("Udinese") - 12; 13-14. Igor Budan ("Parma") - 11; David Suazo ("Cagliari") - 11; 15-18. Goran Pandev ("Lazio") - 10; Hernan Crespo ("Inter") - 10; Alberto Gilardino ("Milan") - 10; Luca Saudati ("Empoli") - 10.
League table:
Note: Due to a corruption scandal, "Fiorentina" had 15 points deducted, "Reggina" - 11, "Milan" - 8, "Lazio" - 3. Due to financial reasons, "Siena" had 1 point deducted.
