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On Saturday, two matches of the 30th round were played in the Italian championship. "Roma" played a draw at home against "Milan," while "Siena" achieved a somewhat unexpected victory away against the "Reggina" team.
In the battle for a place in next year's Champions League, the "Roma" team played a draw with the guests "Milan" at the "Olimpico" stadium with a score of 1-1.
The hosts broke through just four minutes after the start of the match. Philippe Mexes, who celebrated his 25th birthday on Friday, led "Roma" into the lead with a great shot from the edge of the penalty area.
After eight minutes, the visitors nearly equalized. Andrea Pirlo lifted the ball into the penalty area, where Dario Simic missed the goal by a little. Shortly after scoring a goal, P. Mexes almost gave the opponents a goal when he slipped, but "Milan" forward Ricardo Oliveira failed to take advantage of the chance.
"Roma" threatened the opponents' goal with long shots. The visitors' goalkeeper Dida had to save his team from dangerous shots by Christian Panucci and Francesco Totti.
Later, two Brazilians from different teams almost scored. The shot by "Roma" player Amantino Mancini flew over the crossbar, while on the other side of the field, R. Oliveira's shot went wide of the goal. A little later, another Brazilian Ronaldo directed a shot over the goal from "Roma" goalkeeper Alexander Doni.
In the 58th minute, "Roma" players were very close to scoring. Dida cleared the ball from Christian Wilhelmsson's feet, but the ball rolled to Francesco Totti. The Italian shot at an open goal, but "Milan" defender Cafu cleared the ball in time.
Taking advantage of this, the "Milan" players soon equalized. "Roma" defender Marco Cassetti fouled Ronaldo and the referee awarded a penalty kick to the hosts. Andrea Pirlo, who stood up to take the shot, passed the ball to Alberto Gilardino, who equalized with a header.
With ten minutes left until the end of the match, Milan were close to scoring the winning goal. Kaka found himself in the midst of a counterattack and passed the ball to his free teammate A. Gilardino, but the Italian, facing the goalkeeper alone, missed the goal.
In the other Saturday match, "Siena" won a crucial victory with a score of 1-0 against the hosts "Reggina" in a nervy match.
In the 21st minute, "Siena" had a golden opportunity to take the lead. Daniele Corvia, the team's forward, was roughly fouled by the opponent Alessandro Lucarelli in the opponents' penalty area. The referee showed Lucarelli a red card and awarded a penalty kick to the hosts, but Francesco Cozza's shot was saved by "Reggina" goalkeeper Andrea Campagnolo.
However, at the end of the first half, the visitors managed to take the lead. Daniele Galloppa took a corner kick, and Valerio Bertotto, who was standing in front of the opponents' goal, scored with a header.
In the 73rd minute, the balance of power on the field leveled out as D. Corvia, a player for "Siena," received a red card for hitting an opponent in the face, but "Reggina" failed to take advantage and the score remained 0-1.
Saturday's match results:
1-1
4' [1-0] Philippe Mexes
62' [1-1] Alberto Gilardino
0-1
45' [0-1] Valerio Bertotto
Alessandro Lucarelli (Reggina) sent off from the field in the 20th minute.
Daniele Corvia (Siena) sent off from the field in the 74th minute.
Tournament table:
