© EuroFootball.com
This weekend in Italy, there were 32 round matches played. The "Milan" club, after winning a victory, rose to fourth place. "Roma" managed to recover after being knocked out of the Champions League, while "Ascoli" ended "Lazio"'s winning streak. "Fiorentina" won the Tuscan derby.
The Munich "Bayern" club continues to demonstrate excellent form after eliminating "Milan" from the Champions League. The team confidently defeated the struggling "Messina" club away with a score of 3-1.
The visitors took the lead in the 14th minute. Kaka's powerful long-range shot flew into the opponent's goal. The ball touched Kakhos Kaladze's head as it flew, but the goal was still credited to the Brazilian. "Milan" didn't stop actively attacking the opponent's goal and scored the second goal of the match in the 30th minute. Experienced defender Giuseppe Favalli scored after receiving a pass from the young Yoann Gourcuff.
"Milan" finally sealed the fate of their opponents in the 86th minute. Ronaldo's long shot flew just below the crossbar into the goal. However, the hosts managed to score a consolation goal when Salvatore Masiello found the back of the net.
The "Roma" team slightly redeemed themselves in the eyes of their fans after a shameful defeat in the Champions League. The club crushed the "Sampdoria" team at home with a score of 4-0.
The captain of the capital team, Francesco Totti, led his team to victory, further solidifying his position as the most productive player in Serie A. In the 21st minute, he scored a powerful goal from 30 meters, and in the 67th minute, after receiving a pass from his teammate Amantino Mancini, he scored his second goal of the match. The other goals for the hosts were scored by defenders Matteo Ferrari and Christian Panucci.
"Ascoli" managed to break the eight-game winning streak of "Lazio" in a dramatic home match that ended in a 2-2 draw.
All the main action of the match took place in the last half hour of the game. In the 69th minute, "Ascoli" took the lead after a calm header from Andrea Soncino. However, just three minutes later, the score was leveled when Tommaso Rocchi received a long pass from his teammate and beat the opponent's goalkeeper.
Later on, near the "Lazio" goal, Andrea Soncino took a shot that hit the crossbar and bounced to another "Ascoli" player, Saša Bjelanovič, who was brought down from behind by "Lazio" player Guglielmo Stendardo. The referee showed the latter a red card and awarded a penalty kick to "Lazio." It was successfully converted by Luigi Di Biagio, scoring his first goal for "Ascoli."
However, the visitors were saved by an early goal from Luis Jimenez for "Lazio." The player from Chile beat the opponent's offside trap and leveled the score with a precise shot.
Playing with ten men, "Fiorentina" managed to win the Tuscan derby with a score of 1-0 against the "Siena" team at home. The Florence team took the lead in the 42nd minute through a goal from Adriano Mutu, but they had to play with ten men from the 69th minute when Alessandro Gamberini received a red card. However, the "Siena" team failed to capitalize on this advantage and had to settle for defeat.
Another team playing with ten men, "Atalanta," managed to defeat the "Torino" team away with a score of 2-1. The visitors scored two goals in the first eight minutes of the match, but in the 39th minute, defender Adriano received a red card. However, "Torino" couldn't capitalize on this and only managed to reduce the gap.
There were also red cards in the match between "Udinese" and "Chievo" in Udine, which was won 2-1 by the hosts. This time, both teams had to finish the game with ten men. The visitors took the lead in the 10th minute after a goal from Sergio Pellissier, but the "Udinese" team was saved by two goals from Italian national team members Vincenzo Iaquinta and Antonio Di Natale. At the end of the match, both teams lost a player due to red cards.
Fighting for survival, the "Reggina" team secured an important point with a 1-1 draw against "Livorno" away. The goals were scored by two of the most productive players in the league, Cristiano Lucarelli and Rolando Bianchi.
The "Parma" team failed to take advantage of a great opportunity to win three points and played a 1-1 draw at home against "Catania." The latter has been in deep crisis recently, so the home fans hoped that "Parma" would take a big step towards survival in the league, but led by Claudio Ranieri, the team could only manage a draw.
"Cagliari" played a goalless draw at home against the "Empoli" team.
Results of the 32nd round matches:
1 – 3
14' [0 – 1] Kaka
30' [0 – 2] Giuseppe Favalli
86' [0 – 3] Ronaldo
90' [1 – 3] Salvatore Masiello
4 – 0
21' [1 – 0] Francesco Totti
66' [2 – 0] Francesco Totti
71' [3 – 0] Matteo Ferrari
87' [4 – 0] Christian Panucci
2 – 2
70' [1 – 0] Andrea Soncin
74' [1 – 1] Tommaso Rocchi
76' [2 – 1] Luigi Di Biagio (11m)
84' [2 – 2] Luis Jimenez
75' Guglielmo Stendardo ("Lazio") sent off
1 – 0
43' [1 – 0] Adrian Mutu
69' Alessandro Gamberini ("Fiorentina") sent off
1 – 2
2' [0 – 1] Gianpaolo Bellini
8' [0 – 2] Riccardo Zampagna
70' [1 – 2] Elvis Abbruscato
39' Adriano ("Atalanta") sent off
2 – 1
10' [0 – 1] Sergio Pellissier
34' [1 – 1] Vincenzo Iaquinta
74' [2 – 1] Antonio Di Natale
89' Andrea Coda ("Udinese") sent off
90' Fabio Moro ("Chievo") sent off
1 – 1
27' [1 – 0] Cristiano Lucarelli
31' [1 – 1] Rolando Bianchi
1 – 1
20' [0 – 1] Gionatha Spinesi
32' [1 – 1] Fernando Couto
0 – 0
2 – 2
3' [0 - 1] Andrea Caracciolo
45' [0 - 2] Cristiano Zaccardo
67' [1 - 2] Julio Ricardo Cruz
74' [2 - 2] Adriano
Top scorers of the league:
1. Francesco Totti ("Roma") – 20;
2-4. Luca Toni ("Fiorentina") – 16;
Rolando Bianchi ("Reggina") – 16;
Cristiano Lucarelli ("Livorno") – 16;
5-6. Zlatan Ibrahimovic ("Inter") – 15;
Tommaso Rocchi ("Lazio") – 15;
7. Adrian Mutu ("Fiorentina") – 14;
8-9. Gionatha Spinesi ("Catania") – 13;
Vincenzo Iaquinta ("Udinese") – 13;
10-12. Christian Rigano ("Messina") – 12;
Fabio Quagliarella ("Sampdoria") – 12;
Cristiano Doni ("Atalanta") – 12;
13-14. Igor Budan ("Parma") – 11;
David Suazo ("Cagliari") – 11;
15-19. Goran Pandev ("Lazio") – 10;
Hernan Crespo ("Inter") – 10;
Alberto Gilardino ("Milan") – 10;
Luca Saudati ("Empoli") – 10;
Antonio Di Natale ("Udinese") – 10.
League table:
Note: Due to a corruption scandal, "Fiorentina" had 15 points deducted, "Reggina" 11 points, "Milan" 8 points, "Lazio" 3 points. Due to financial reasons, "Siena" had 1 point deducted.
