NAPOLI STUN LAZIO

Lowly Napoli stun Lazio in the Olympic stadium. Parma's feint title hopes
are also ended by another of the leagues strugglers, Reggina. Roma make light
of Batistuta's absence and cruise to victory away to Atalanta. Fiorentina
claim a point against bitter rivals Juve in a thrilling 3-3 draw in Turin.
Predictably, the Milan derby ends in a draw


7 JANUARY 2001

MILAN				2-2			INTER
Boban 64						Sukur 11
Bierhoff 85						Di Biagio 72

In the third minute Bierhoff volleyed against the post. As the Milan defence
stood waiting to spring the offside trap Sukur arrived from nowhere to volley
Inter in front, catching Abbiati hopelessly out of position. Vieri went close
twice but was denied by the width of the post and Abbiati respectively.

Boban came on at the start of the second half and drew Milan level, he seemed
to take Bierhoff's pass wide but still managed to squeeze the ball past Frey.
Di Biagio restored Inter's lead with a thundering free kick from 35yds.
Bierhoff met Giunti's cross with a superb diving header to earn his side a
point. Shevchenko, who had a quiet game, blew a good chance late on.

Assists : Seedorf (x2), Bierhoff, Giunti


ATALANTA			0-2			ROMA
							Delvecchio 1
							Tommasi 41

Delvecchio stole the ball off Montella and fired a shot into the bottom
corner. Doni should have equalised from Ganz's cross but headed over from
close range. Siviglia tackled Montella in the box, the ball broke for Tomassi
and he hammered a shot past Ferron. The pitch was already in a terrible state
at the start of the match and by the second half rain made conditions
unplayable. Zanetti was sent off for fouling Zauri. Siviglia made a fantastic
clearance off the line to deny Totti a goal.

Atalanta's second straight loss and a great victory for Roma. Having played
Inter, Fiorentina, Lazio and Juventus, Roma only have two matches against
the remaining 'magnificent seven' as they are known left and right now
Milan and Parma away is not exactly a difficult prospect.

Attendance : 26,000
Red Card : Zanetti (Roma)
Assist : Montella


BOLOGNA			1-0			BRESCIA
Locatelli 33

Brescia would have been 0-3 up inside half an hour but for a hat-trick of
excellent saves by Pagliuca, Marino was his victim. Signori flicked on a long
ball to Locatelli, he outran the Brescia defence, rounded Srnicek and tapped
into an empty net. Bologna's only genuine chance in the match. Binotto was
sent off for verbal abuse, Diana was sent off for diving in the box. In
between Pagliuca made another save from the luckless Marino.

Attendance : 22,029
Red Cards : Binotto 51 (Bologna), Diana 57 (Brescia)
Assist : Signori


LAZIO				1-2			NAPOLI
Mihajlovic 87 (Pen)					Amoruso 4
							Pancaro 37 (og)

Magone chipped a ball up to Amoruso, he lifted the ball over Mihajlovic, got
a lucky deflection off his heels and beat Peruzzi to the ball, 0-1. You would
expect Napoli to sit back but they didn't. Mancini was peppered with long
range shots, nothing too testing. Saber launched a cross into the box and
Pancaro met the ball with a superb volley, one of the best own goals you
are likely to see. Peruzzi then added to Lazio's embarrassment by getting
sent off for handling outside the box. Substitute 'keeper Orlandoni made a
great save from Saber. Nedved dived in the box, Mihajlovic converted the
penalty. 

Even Edmundo (watching the match) would have been ashamed of the
fighting. The Italian FA continually turn a blind eye to the appalling behaviour
of Lazio's fans. Lazio should be banned from playing in the Olympico for several
games, that's the only way to teach these maggots a lesson though the police
did try to beat some sense into them. They deserved everything they got.
 
Attendance : 50,000
Red Card : Peruzzi 44 (Lazio)
Assists : Nedved


LECCE				4-2			VERONA
Osorio 54						Bonazzoli 23
Lucarelli 60, 72						Adailton 79 (Pen)
Vugrinec 74 (Pen)

Verona took the lead against the run of play when Bonazzoli headed in
Adailton's free kick. Osorio equalised minutes after coming on as a sub. He
ran onto Viali's ball over the top and held off the Verona defence and one
of his own team-mates before shooting inside the post. Lucarelli headed in
Vugrinec's free kick and fired his team further in front following good work
by Vugrinec and Osorio. Vugrinec took a dive in the box and picked himself
up to put away the penalty. Adailton also scored from the spot from an even
more dubious penalty awarded when Gilardino bounced himself off Savino.

Attendance : 15,402
Assist : Adailton, Viali, Vugrinec (x2), Osorio, Gilardino


PARMA				0-2			REGGINA
							Dionigi 20, 54

Almeyda blew a glorious chance when sent clear by Amoroso. Mamede
intercepted a weak clearance by Torrisi and was tackled by Fuser. As he lay
on the floor playacting Reggina scored. Dionigi played the ball wide to
Marrazina, he sent a cross into the box and Dionigi arrived unmarked to head
past Buffon, well I say unmarked because Benarrivo doesn't really count.
Milosevic saw his effort bounce off the outside of a post. Another slack
piece of Parma defending went unpunished, Benarrivo headed straight to
Marrazina, Cannavaro fell over but Buffon saved Marrazina's first effort and
Benarrivo got back to clear his second off the line. From the resulting
corner however, Dionigi headed in his second. Torrisi was sent off for
elbowing and when Parma finally managed a decent attempt on goal
Taibi was equal to Appiah's stinging shot.

At one time Amoroso was the most feared striker in Round A now he is playing
like Andy Cole when he first joined Man United, no first touch and missing
easy chances.
 
Attendance : 16,000
Red Card : Torrisi 88 (Parma)
Assists : Marrazina, Cozza


PERUGIA				3-1			UDINESE
Saudati 10						Mazzantini 34 (og)
Materazzi 37 (Pen)
Tedesco 93

Saudati gave Perugia the lead with a fine flick header, Liverani with the
cross. Turci made an awesome save from Ze Maria's free kick. Mazzantini was
credited with an own goal, Sottil's header hit a defender on the line and the
ball ricocheted off Mazzantini into the net. Tedesco got Gargo sent off with
a cheap whore dive in the box. The impressive Materazzi, linked with a move
to Inter in recent weeks, despatched the penalty. Tedesco added a third half
way through injury time.

Attendance : 10,000
Red Card : Gargo 37 (Udinese)
Assists : Liverani, Tedesco


6 JANUARY 2001

JUVENTUS			3-3			FIORENTINA
Conte 32						Chiesa 4, 63
Inzaghi 48 (Pen), 56					Nuno Gomes 17

Couldn't quite figure out what happened on the first goal as the pitch was
shrouded in fog (or was it smoke?). A Juve defender tried to clear a through
ball but only got as far as Chiesa and he beat Van der Sar from close range.
Nuno Gomes made it 0-2 with a fine strike from Vanoli's centre. Conte
scrambled in Juve's first and Inzaghi equalised from the spot after Toldo
stupidly came out of his area and flattened, that's right as in fouled,
Inzaghi. As if the sight of a legit Inzaghi penalty wasn't enough he gave
Juve the lead with a brilliant volley. Minutes later Chiesa curled a free
kick low inside the post.
 
Assists : Vanoli, Inzaghi, Paramatti, ?


VINCEZA				1-0			BARI
Dicara 11

Dicara headed in Bernardini's free kick. Bari's best chance also came from
a free kick which deflected off the inside of a post before being gathered
by Sterchele.

The director spent the rest of the time showing a scout from Man United in
the stands. Apparently he was watching both Cassano (Bari) and Toni
(Vicenza).  Hands down Toni is by far the better player and with his height
would be an ideal target man for Beckham's crosses.

Assist : Bernardini