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On Sunday, the remaining 34 matches of the strongest Italian league were played. The long-awaited Rome derby ended goalless, "Palermo" finally managed to earn three crucial points, while "Reggina", "Catania", and "Parma" secured important victories in the battle for survival.
In the highly anticipated match, "Roma" failed to get revenge on "Lazio" for their defeat at the beginning of the season, with a final score of 0-0. This time, both teams settled for a draw.
As expected, Francesco Totti, who had just recovered from an injury, played for "Roma" in his 23rd Rome derby, but the team was missing the suspended Marco Cassetti and Matteo Ferrari. "Lazio" was without Stefano Mauri and Guglielmo Stendardo.
The match started more aggressively for "Lazio" players. Tommaso Rocchi missed a chance next to goalkeeper Cristiano Doni, and later Luciano Zauri took advantage of David Pizarro's mistake but his shot was blocked. On the other end of the pitch, F. Totti missed with a header.
Philippe Mexes received a yellow card for a confrontation after the referee awarded a penalty kick. Cristian Ledesma's powerful shot almost gave the lead to his team. The most dangerous opportunity in the first half belonged to "Roma", when Angelo Peruzzi saved a shot from Amantino Mancini but Rodrigo Taddei missed the follow-up with a header.
In the second half, "Lazio" players were more active, with opportunities for Luis Jimenez and Massimo Mutarelli. However, "Roma" soon started to attack more with A. Mancini and F. Totti having good chances. In the 73rd minute, A. Mancini had another great chance, but was denied by A. Peruzzi.
The match ended in a "Roma" assault, but efforts from Mirko Vucinic and Daniele De Rossi to snatch a victory were in vain.
Results of Sunday's matches:
0 – 0
1 – 2 48' [0 – 1] Eugenio Corini (pen) 53' [1 – 1] Cesar (pen) 75' [1 – 2] David Di Michele
0 – 2 39' [0 – 1] Christian Maggio 89' [0 – 2] Gennaro Delvecchio
0 – 1 54' [0 – 1] Gionatha Spinesi
Players sent off: Marco Motta, Antonio Di Natale, Andrea Dossena ("Udinese")
2 – 3 15' [1 – 0] Michele Fini 24' [1 – 1] Nicola Amoruso 32' [1 – 2] Nicola Amoruso 52' [1 – 3] Pasquale Foggia 82' [2 – 3] Massimo Bonnani
2 – 1 28' [1 – 0] Igor Budan 67' [1 – 1] Daniele Conti 76' [2 – 1] Andrea Gasbarroni (pen)
Players sent off: Daniele Conti ("Cagliari")
0 – 0
3 – 1 27' [1 - 0] Julio Ricardo Cruz 57' [1 - 1] Luca Saudati 59' [2 - 1] Alvaro Recoba 60' [3 - 1] Dejan Stankovic
Top scorers of the championship:
1. Francesco Totti ("Roma") – 21; 2. Cristiano Lucarelli ("Livorno") – 18; 3. Rolando Bianchi ("Reggina") – 17; 4. Luca Toni ("Fiorentina") – 16; 5-7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic ("Inter") – 15; Adrian Mutu ("Fiorentina") – 15; Tommaso Rocchi ("Lazio") – 15; 8-11. Vincenzo Iaquinta ("Udinese") – 14; Christian Rigano ("Messina") – 14; Nicola Amoruso ("Reggina") – 14; Gionatha Spinesi ("Catania") – 14.
League table:
Note: due to a corruption scandal, "Fiorentina" had 15 points deducted, "Reggina" - 11 points, "Milan" - 8 points, and "Lazio" - 3 points. Due to financial reasons, "Siena" had 1 point deducted.
