19 December 2004 PALERMO 3-0 CAGLIARI Zauli 33 Brienza 37 Toni 39 A superb opener, similar to Chelsea's third against Norwich yesterday. Toni back heeled Zaccardo's cross to Zauli and he blasted first time into the bottom corner. Toni forced the second goal when he collected a pass and turned towards goal, two Cagliari defenders hacked away, the ball broke for Brienza and he smashed it past Iezzo. Toni scored a deserved if somewhat predictable third when he headed in a free kick. Attendance : 32,927 Assists : Toni, n/a, Corini (fk) BOLOGNA 2-0 REGGINA Bellucci 5 (Pen) Meghni 62 Having been screwed over by the ref last week Bologna were presented with the gift of a penalty after just five minutes. Bellucci did the Signori one step routine, slamming the ball into the corner. Shortly after Pagliuca prevented De Rosa from scoring the equaliser with an amazing save Bellucci back heeled Cipriani's pass into Meghni and he lobbed over the advancing Soviero. Bellucci's mindless handball gave Reggina a chance from the spot but Dionigi shot wide. Attendance : 18,000 Assists : Cipriani (won pen), Cipriani FIORENTINA 2-0 CHIEVO Rigano 45 Portillo 70 (fk) Having troubled Marchegiani (and the post) with some cracking long range shots Fiorentina took the lead from a corner. They wasted several chances before Portillo, looking disturbingly like Rod Stewart did 20 years ago with that God awful mullet, embarrassed Marchegiani with a low free kick. Attendance : Portillo (ck), Maggio (won fk) Red Cards : Lanna 69 (Chievo), Maggio 84 (Fiorentina) Assists : Portillo (ck), Maggio (won fk) INTER 1-0 BRESCIA Mihajlovic 25 (fk) Attendance : 50,000 Assist : Vieri (won fk) LECCE 1-4 SAMPDORIA Vucinic 54 Flachi 38 (Pen), 50 Tonetto 61 Kutozov 93 Ayroldi handed the match to Sampdoria by sending off Diamoutene after Rossini fell in the box, refereeing ineptitude usually only seen in Spain and England. Flachi smashed in the penalty and Lecce were taken apart. Flachi tapped in a second after Tonetto blew past the Lecce defence and rolled the ball across goal. Vucinic tapped-in after Antonioli failed to hold Bojinov's shot. Tonetto's stunning half volley restored Samp's two goal cushion and Kutozov grabbed his first Serie A goal with a finely placed shot from the edge of the box. Christmas can't come soon enough for Lecce, they've ran out of gas like most of Zeman's teams do a couple of months into the season. Attendance : 12, 730 Red Card : Diamoutene 37 Assists : Rossini (won pen), Tonetto, n/a, Doni, Doni ROMA 5-1 PARMA Cassano 10, 50 Bovo 45 Totti 29, 57 Montella 52 Curci made his debut for Roma it this match but it wasn't Curci the striker of Championship Manager fame but a goalkeeper. When Cassano is in the mood there isn't a better player in the World. There must have been a full moon because he was in the zone today. He flicked a raking pass from Totti to himself, took one step forward and bent the ball inside the post. His next trick was so good it promoted the commentator to liken it to something seen in video games. He recovered the ball after a defender tired to clear his cross and with his back to play standing next to the far post he did a kick-up then volleyed a pass on the turn to the back post, Montella connected with an overhead kick, it would have been one of THE all time great goals but a defender blocked the shot, Totti latched onto the ball, worked himself and opening and shot wide of Frey. Following a brief period of sustained pressure Bovo headed Parma back into the match from a corner. Cassano put the breaks on a potential comeback with an emphatic finish after Totti won a ball in midfield and sent him clear. Montella latched onto Cassano's fantastic crossfield pass and charged forward, with Totti on his right, Cassano and Aquilani on his right the Parma defence were hopelessly outnumbered, he decided to go himself and whacked in the fourth. With an exquisite first touch Totti pulled down a cross from Cufre before sending a right foot volley ripping into the net. Just like the Roma of last season. Attendance : 45,000 Red Card : Pisanu 74 (Parma) Assists : Totti, n/a, Morfeo (ck), Totti, Cassano, Cufre SIENA 1-1 LIVORNO Vergassola 43 A Lucarelli 56 Pecchia fell as he controlled a chipped pass on his chest and Vergassola arrived to blast the ball into the net. Lucarelli equalised with a bullet header from Passoni's corner. Attendance : 10,000 Assists : Pecchia, Passoni (ck) UDINESE 3-0 LAZIO Pizarro 14 (Pen) Di Michele 17 Iaquinta 36 Siviglia gave his under fire coach the best possible start by getting himself sent off for chopping down Iaquinta. Iaquinta hit a stupendously hard shot from the free kick into goal but it was disallowed for a 'foul' by Muntari. Realising the error of his ways Tombolini dreamed up a penalty for Udinese, after Pizarro converted he made him retake it for encroachment. Tombolini is an arsehole. A magnificent lobbed pass beat Lazio's offside trap and Di Michele punished hesitancy by Casazza to score Udinese's second. A stunning, lightning quick, one touch passing counter attack was finished off by Iaquinta. The Friuli holds 41,825 people given how Udinese are playing their average attendance is a disgrace. Attendance : 15,000 Red Card : Siviglia 8 (Lazio) Assists : Di Michele, Di Natale, Di Michele 18 December 2004 JUVENTUS 0-0 MILAN Milan totally dominated the first half, playing with great flair and imagination but were let down by a poor final ball. Milan had two penalty appeals turned down, both for fouls by Zebina on Crespo and Kaladze, all in full view of Bertini, the bent bastard. Shevchenko struck a post. Juve's first 'shot' arrived on 44 minutes. Juve came out in the second half with the express intention of playing for a draw and they succeeded thanks to Bertini's weak officiating. Pirlo should have won it in the last minute following an outstanding run by Shevchenko but dragged his shot wide. Every 50-50 decision went for Juve, just as it did last week. Shame Galliani is no longer president of the league. Don't expect to see 55,000 in the Delle Alpi anytime soon, this is the first time in about three years that Juve have failed to score at home. Attendance : 55,000 MESSINA 1-0 ATALANTA Di Napoli 10 (Pen) Suspended due to heavy rain. R Mehdi |