SERIE A ROUND 10
 
WIDE OPEN

Milan and Lazio suffer heavy away defeats to Juventus and Roma respectively.
Fiorentina end their 2 month drought without a win, Inter bounce back from
a string of defeats to put six past Lecce. Parma leapfrog the Milan due to
move into 4th place as 4 points separate the top six teams.

20 NOVEMBER 1999

FIORENTINA			1-0			PERUGIA
Pierini 81

Batistuta fresh air kicked a volley. Amoruso wasted two great chances when
put through inevitably by Nakata. Pierini headed in a corner. Milanese was
sent off for shirt pulling, Batistuta wasted two chances. He's half the
player he used to be before his injury against Milan.

Attendance : 25,000
Red Card(s) : Milanese 83 (Perugia)


UDINESE			2-1			BOLOGNA
Sottil 81							Paramatti 62
Muzzi 88

Udinese won a penalty for handball, Pagliuca saved Jorgensen's spot kick.
Paramatti gave Udinese the lead with a nice strike across goal from Nervo's
great disguised pass although he was helped by SIX players attempting to
play offside. Nervo wasted a great chance to make the game safe and
Udinese fought back. Pagliuca had a lucky escape when he punched
Jorgensen's shot and saw it come back off the crossbar and brilliantly
headed to safety by Paramatti. Sosa headed on a corner, Sottil headed in at
the far post, Muzzi grabbed the winner with a miss-hit shot from close range.
Ze Elias was sent off for touching Muzzi.

Attendance : 10,000
Red Card(s) : Ze Elias 85 (Bologna)

21 NOVEMBER 1999

BARI				1-1			REGGINA
Andersson 96 (Pen)					Kallon 11

Kallon tapped in from close range after Possanzini dribbling past three
defenders and centered. Orlandoni made a great save from Spinesi's header,
Olivares blazed over from a rebound. Bari won a penalty late into injury time
for a very unfortunate handball by Bernini. Andersson converted.

Attendance : 14,600


INTER				6-0			LECCE
Georgatos 2
Zanetti 12
Jugovic 38
Zamorano 47
Ronaldo 50 (Pen)
Recoba 65

Georgatos began the slaughter with a brilliant free kick. Zanetti won a ball
on the halfway line, charged forward and beat Chimenti with a well placed 
low shot from outside the box. Jugovic almost snapped the crossbar in half
with a viciously struck half volley but scored minutes later when he pounced
on a hospital pass. Zamorano ended the first half by sprinting from the half
way line onto a fantastic first time Moriero pass and chipping the ball past
Chimenti. Ronaldo was rewarded for bad acting with a penalty which he
converted. Recoba scored minutes after coming on as a sub, he flicked
Di Biagio's pass over his head and then lifted the ball over Chimenti into
goal. Inter are willing to sell him, unbelievable.

Ban news for Inter as Ronaldo injured his knee and is expected to be out for
the next two months. With Vieri also on the shelf Inter are desperately short
on cover in attack.

Attendance : 50,000


PARMA				3-1			CAGLIARI
Crespo 58 (Pen)						Mboma 56
Di Vaio 59, 83

After wasting tons of chances Parma fell behind. O'Neill picked out Oliveira
with a superb pass, Buffon came out and froze, Oliveira crossed for Mayele
who horribly miscued but Mboma sent the ball into the net. Ortega dived to
win a penalty, Crespo converted. Di Vaio finished coolly from Fuser's long
ball and tapped in a second from Crespo's deflected cross. Lots of long ball
from Parma in this match. Vanoli was strechered off suffering from what
appeared to be a muscular problem.

Attendance : 18,000


ROMA				4-1			LAZIO
Delvecchio 7, 26						Mihajlovic 53 (Pen)
Montella 11, 31

A fantastic through pass from Totti gave Delvecchio a run on goal and he
beat Marchegiani with ease. Montella combined with Mangone for both his goals,
he ran onto two huge punts upfield to beat Marchegiani and Totti also linked
with Delvecchio for his 2nd. Lazio won a penalty for handball, Mihajlovic
converted. Not much else to say as Marchegiani had little to do other than
pick the ball out of his net.

Lazio took a lead out of Roma's book and played a suicidal offside trap with
equally suicidal results. Roma were first to every ball and played some nice
football but they were helped by inept defending. Lazio improved in the
second half but by then it was too late. Capello took off Delvecchio and
with the exception of Totti, Roma stopped trying. Capello was asked by an
English reporter a few days before the match if he will enjoy the derby, he
replied "It will depend on the result. I'm not interested in having fun, I'm
only interested in the result".


Attendance : 77,988


VENEZIA				0-0			PIACENZA

It was snowing heavily and when it stopped the pitch cut up something
rotten. Budan drew out Roma and idiotically crossed instead of going for 
goal. Mazzola volleyed horribly wide from close range. Konsel made an
awesome one handed save to keep out Di Napoli's header. Budan wasted two
great chances for Venezia early in the second half and they survived some late
pressure thanks to Konsel to earn a point. BTW I get the sudden urge to go to
Italy and buy loads of mobile phones! (Watch Raiuno!)

Attendance : 7,806


VERONA				0-1			TORINO
							Artistico 23

If it was snowing heavily in the previous match,  this was a blizzard. 
Ferrante fell over Coco's centre, Artistico drilled in the loose ball. 
Artistico was sent off for a murderous two footed lunge on Fillipini, 
thankfully he didn't catch him but the intent was there. Dirty bastard. 
Ferrante elbowed Brocchi on the chin, he obviously made the most of it.
Another senseless red card for Torino. Brocchi was booked for a swan
dive in the box, it was a beauty, as he crashed to the floor he sent a puff
of snow in the air. Cruz made a brilliant goal saving tackle to deny
Cammarata. Coco couldn't find the finish to match a fine run. Cammarata
missed an open goal from a goalmouth scramble. Coco went close again, he
drew out the 'keeper but his shot stuck in the turf. He should be a great
player someday.

Attendance : 12,468
Red Card(s) : Artistico 27 (Torino), Ferrante 43 (Torino)


JUVENTUS			3-1			MILAN
Conte 21						Zidane 20 (og)
Inzaghi 50
Kovacevic 93

Abbiati made a Hollywood save from Ferrara's bullet header. Maldini slid in
to prevent Inzaghi from scoring a certain goal. From the resulting corner
Ferrara headed against the post.  Weah crossed to the back post, Sala headed
against the post and the ball bounced off Zidane into the net. Juve responded
immediately, Conte brilliantly powering home a header from Del Piero's
free kick. Both teams had good cases for penalties turned down, Milan for
shirt tugging on Bierhoff and Juve for incredibly blatant shirt tugging by
Sala on Ferrara. Bierhoff blazed over from close range after persistence from
Boban. Bierhoff wasted another good opportunity, shooting from a wide angle
with Weah unmarked in front of goal. Juve took the lead early in the second
half, Inzaghi with an excellent first time finish from Del Piero's equally
excellent pass. Milan scrambled to clear Ferrara's goal bound header and
Del Piero continued his personal dual with Abbiati, with his back to goal
he rolled the ball around and fired a shot only to be denied by a trademark
Abbiati save and minutes later Abbiati kept out his free kick. Zidane and
Del Piero combined for Juve's next chance, Inzaghi just failing to connect
with Del Piero's cross. Kovacevic gave Juve a deserved third with an easy
header from Tacchinardi's cross.

Del Piero, Inzaghi and Zidane combined superbly and it was noticeable how
quickly Juve moved when attacking and how utterly lethargic Milan looked.
Serginho is their only midfielder with World Class pace. Milan's defence was,
predictably, abysmal. Berlusconi has given Zac until Christmas to turn things
around. Milan are expected to Salva from Santander, a defender and midfielder
when the transfer window opens in January. By then they may also have a new
coach currently rumoured to be Tassotti and Sacchi.