SERIE A ROUND 18
 
Losses For Milan And Lazio

Reggina stun Lazio and Milan lose top spot following defeat at Udinese.
A late Vieri hat-trick moves Inter level on points with Milan and Juventus
stroll to victory over Piacenza. Roma hit mid-table following their 7th defeat
of the season.

26 January 2003

UDINESE			1-0		MILAN
Pizarro 37 (Pen)

Milan never got going in the first half. A solitary chance on the break for Inzaghi
was spurned as Udinese piled pressure on the Milan goal. Jorgensen shot straight
at Dida and Jankulosvki flashed a 25yd shot just wide of the post. Udinese were
awarded a penalty when Maldini handled in the box. Penalty expert Dida was
helpless as Pizarro sent him the wrong way.

Early in the second half Inzaghi got Sensini sent off, he grabbed a chunk of the
defenders shirt then used it as leverage to throw himself down near the edge of
the box. If anything the red card worked against Milan as Sottil came on for
Jorgensen and Udinese got everyone back in defence. Milan's best two chances
fell to Ambrosini, he volleyed wide after Seedorf floating a cross to the edge of
the box and headed over after Shevchenko had chased down a clearance.
Inzaghi also blazed over late on.

Red Card : Sensini 47 (Udinese)


BOLOGNA			2-2		TORINO
Signori 39 (Pen)					Olive 7 (og)
Della Rocca 80					Franco 65

Vergassola was credited with the opening goal but it was Olive who headed
Sommese's cross past Pagliuca. Signori converted a penalty awarded for a
foul on Cruz. A farcical piece of defending by the usually reliable Zaccardo
allowed Franco to restore Torino's lead. Della Rocca came on as a substitute
for Zaccardo and scored an immediate equaliser when the Toro defence failed
to clear a free kick.

Attendance : 22,000
Assist : Cruz (won pen)
Red Card : De Ascentis 94 (Torino)


BRESCIA				1-1		PARMA
Baggio 39					Bonera 32

Lamouchi found Ferrari with an excellent cross to the back post. After having his
shot blocked he knocked the ball across goal and Bonera tapped in. Petruzzi
helped on Emanuele Filippini's cross and Baggio beat Frey to the ball, 1-1. Frey
then made three magnificent saves from Italy's favourite Buddhist, the first
a bone breaking one handed tip over the bar from a Baggio lob arguably the best
of the bunch. Both sides hit the post, Tare from an improbable angle but
Bresciano should have done better when Gilardino played him in.

Attendance : 15,000
Assists : Ferrari, Petruzzi


INTER				3-0		EMPOLI
Vieri 70, 74, 85

Vanucci added Almeyda’s name to Inter's lengthy injury list when he kicked
the Argentinean from behind. He should have at least earned a yellow card
for the challenge in full view of the ref. Vieri made up for some terrible misses
with the cheapest hat-trick he'll ever score. He tapped in after Batistuta's shot
had been saved, headed in from about 6 inches after Berti flapped at a cross
and bagged his third when he rolled the ball into an empty net after Berti
completely missed a cross.

Attendance : 60,000
Assists : Okan, Zanetti


JUVENTUS			2-0		PIACENZA
Del Piero 10
Nedved 43

Del Piero opened the scoring with a magnificent flying kick style volley from
Zambrotta's cross. Rinaldi earned a second yellow for grabbing a chunk of David's
shirt. An outstanding passing move involving Nedved and Del Piero broke down
when Orlandoni saved but Nedved scored at the second attempt with a cheeky
close range lob. Juve stepped off the gas in the second half though still managed
to create and spurn several chances.

Attendance : 35,500
Assist : Zambrotta
Red Card : Rinaldi 38 (Piacenza)


LAZIO				0-1		REGGINA
						Bonazzoli 46

A surprisingly aggressive start by Reggina. They put Lazio under a lot of pressure
without really threatening. Lopez hit the outside of a post for Lazio with a
speculative shot from distance. On the stroke of half time Bonazzoli latched
onto a Stam hospital pass, raced downfield and beat Peruzzi with a low shot.
Stankovic blazed over from close range. Di Michele wasted a chance to make
the game safe on the counter attack but Lazio failed to threaten Reggina's goal.

Attendance : 45,000


PERUGIA				1-0		CHIEVO
Di Loreto 36

Grosso swung a corner into the box, Di Loreto headed goalwards and Lupatelli
punched the ball into his net, the 10th goal Chievo have conceded in the past
seven days. Luciano (Eriberto in a previous life) was back for Chievo but only
lasted 71 minutes and did nothing.

Attendance : 18,000
Assist : Grosso (corner)


25 January 2003

MODENA				0-2		ATALANTA
						Dabo 35
						Pinardi 85

Another Dabo special set Atalanta on their way to victory. He hit a fantastic
low volley through a ruck of players after Modena failed to clear from a corner.
Substitute Pinardi made it 0-2 when he ran onto a long ball and held off two
defenders before slotting past Ballotta.

Attendance : 15,000
Assist : Sala


COMO				2-0		ROMA
Music 83
Carbone 91

A superb run by teenager Rossi ended with Delvecchio taking the ball off
his feet then sending it into row Z. Montella shot straight at Brunner when clean
through and Brunner made a fantastic save from Totti's deflected free kick.
Brunner continued to frustrate Roma with a string of fine saves. Dellas got a
second yellow for pulling back Carbone. Then the sucker punch. Music (insert
pun here) crashed a low volley past Antonioli after the Roma defence made
a hash of a cross. Carbone added a second on the break.

Attendance : 3,000
Assist : Caccia
Red Card : Dellas 79 (Roma)


R Mehdi