SERIE A ROUND 19
 
BAGGIO BEATS ROMA

Capello's miserable record against Inter continues as Roma waste a glut
of chances away to Inter. Scarpi performs heroics in goal to help Cagliari
earn a point at Juventus. Shevchenko fires his first hat-trick for Milan in
a comfortably victory over Perugia and Lazio can afford to switch off after
three first half goals against Bari.

29 JANUARY 2000

LECCE				2-1			VERONA
Lucarelli 6 (Pen)						Colucci 18
Conticchio 68

Lucarelli was brought down in the box by Laursen. He converted the
penalty to score his 11th goal of the season. Chimenti weakly punched
out a header, Melis floated the ball over to the back post for Colucci to
volley in the  equaliser.

Brocchi was sent off a miss-timed challenge. Verona made a mess
of dealing with a cross and Conticchio duly punished them by hitting the
winner. Surprise, surprise, Frey made a great save, Lucarelli ran in on
goal, as he shot the ball took a wicked deflection off Laursen, Frey was
already on the floor but managed to stick out a right hand to prevent
another goal.

Red Card(s) : Brocchi 60 (Verona)
Attendance : 13,800


PIACENZA			0-1			UDINESE
							Muzzi 56

Piacenza dominated possession in the first half but apart from a shot by
Rizzitelli which struck the post they never really threatened. 

Rastelli raced onto Van der Vegt's hospital pass and as De Sanctis charged
off his line Rastelli chipped the ball over him, it bounced off the inside of
the post and was cleared to safety. Typically Udinese scored with the first
attack, Fiore sent a cross into the box, Sosa struck a volley into the ground
and the ball fell kindly for Muzzi to head goalwards, Roma caught the ball 
and then dropped it into the net. Muzzi, played in by an outrageous Fiore
through ball, was denied a goal by great tackle from Vierchowod, that
must be the first time I've mentioned his name this season.


30 JANUARY 2000

BOLOGNA			1-0			PARMA
Bia 47

Andersson was bleeding like a stuck pig following a clash of heads with
Thuram. He went close with a free kick.

Andersson flicked on a corner and apparently Bia turned it in at the far
post. Andersson wasted three great chances to score following mistakes
by Thuram who gave his worst Serie A performance to date.

Parma need to pull their fingers out of their arses if they want to clinch a
Champions League place. They have 24 hours to sign a replacement for
Boghossian because without him they have no workrate in midfield. 
Pathetic.

Attendance : 25,000


FIORENTINA			1-0			REGGINA
Batistuta 50

Adani headed Di Livio's cross onto the crossbar. Cois headed over Chiesa's
corner. Baronio struck the post from a free kick.

Rui Costa ran with the ball deep in his own half, not sure what he was
doing there, attempted to play a one-two with Torricelli but he over hit
his pass, the ball fell to Chiesa, he played in Rui Costa who centred for
Batistuta to tap in. Nice goal, the first time in months Rui Costa has actually
done something of note. Other than a few moments of panic caused by Toldo 
Fiorentina weren't troubled but they're still shite.

Attendance : 35,000


JUVENTUS			1-1			CAGLIARI
Inzaghi 1						Sulcis 14

Cagliari coach Ulivieri was sent off for his usual bout of whining. In a 
hilarious moment as Ulivieri stood behind the fence looking at the match
a slim-line Jimmy Greaves walked in front of him and blocked his view!
Pessotto launched a ball into the box, Zebina made a complete hash of
the clearance and Inzaghi pounced. Sulcis headed in Regis's cross. Scarpi
made a string of excellent saves to keep out Inzaghi twice and a Zidane
free kick. Montero should have been sent off for flattening Mayele with a
stiff arm.

Del Piero hit the post from a free kick. Scarpi had one more save to make
in the second half, from Zambrotta.

Attendance : 40,000


LAZIO				3-1			BARI
Mihajlovic 2 (Pen)					Spinesi 42
Salas 39
Nedved 44

Diving little shit Salas won Lazio a penalty. Mihajlovic beat Mancini with
ease from the spot. Sensini headed a Mihajlovic corner against the crossbar.
Professional winger Ravanelli headed against the post from another
Mihajlovic corner. Mancini spilled a weak Ravanelli shot, Salas put in the
rebound. Marchegiani punched Stefani's cross onto Spinesi's head and into
the goal. Nedved scored with an excellent first time strike from Favalli's
cross. Favalli managed to pull a thigh muscle when he ran into Spinesi's
arse. Nothing of interest in the second half.

Once again no Veron. If Lazio sign Rivaldo, Veron is history.

Attendance : 45,000


PERUGIA				0-3			MILAN
							Shevchenko 70, 
							74, 77

Mazzantini blocked a Shevchenko shot. Bierhoff wasted two good chances,
one created by Shevchenko and the other from De Ascentis' brilliant long
pass. Serginho was next to profit from Shevchenko's creativity, he cushioned
a Maldini pass off his chest and dinked the ball over the head of a defender
but Mazzantini made another brilliant block this time from Serginho.
De Ascentis and Ambrosini combined for Milan's next chance, Shevchenko
ruining the move with a pathetic dive over Mazzantini which earned him
another yellow card, he must have four of them for diving this season.

Milan strung together a beautiful passing move, Giunti to Ambrosini, 
Ambrosini to Bierhoff who put in Shevchenko with a super flick, Mazzantini
came off his line and Shevchenko shot wide. Probably the best move from
Milan this season. Rapajc destroyed Chamot on the left wing and whipped 
in a cross, Maldini headed it out, Hilario shot but Abbiati saved. More good
work from Ambrosini and Giunti led to Milan's first goal, Giunti played in
Serginho with an excellent disguised pass and his centre was slid in by
Shevchenko and Ripa. Giunti stole a ball off Bisoli and fed Shevchenko who
raced clear and waited for Mazzantini to give him a gap before placing the
ball inside the post. Serginho's free kick bounced off the crossbar and
Shevchenko headed in the rebound to complete his hat-trick. 

Well, well, well, Ambrosini, Gattuso and Giunti started the match and Milan
give their best performance of the season. Giunti and Ambrosini showed that
they are more than leg breakers. Interestingly Boban didn't play. The leech
Albertini came on in the 82nd minute and Zac's other pet Helveg in the 87th.
Maybe my e-mail to Zaccheroni in dodgy Italian had an effect.

Attendance : 20,000


VENEZIA				2-2			TORINO
Ganz 11 (Pen)						Grandoni 93
Berg 37							Ferrante 94

Cardone leaned on Jurcic in the box, he made the most of it and Ganz slotted
in the penalty. As Berg attempted to turn in a cross his shot was blocked, the
ball bounced high in the air and Berg rudely flicked out his right boot, the
ball dipped over Bucci and nestled into the bottom of the net, fabulous
strike.

Pecchia smashed a shot against the crossbar, Konsel made a good save from
a ferocious Mendez drive. Konsel punched out a Coco cross, Ferrante blasted
a volley straight at a defender, another shot was blocked, Ferrante blasted
the rebound at goal but Volpi made a fantastic save with his hand left hand
to keep out the shot. Why Torino weren't awarded a penalty is a mystery.
Torino's persistence was eventually rewarded, Mendez hooked back the ball
from a poor clearance and Konsel somehow managed to miss Grandoni's
poorly struck volley. Ferrante pounced on another flick on in the box a minute
later with an overhead kick to earn Torino a point. I don't want to get any
rumours started but Konsel's 'keeping' on the last two shots was very, very
questionable.

Attendance : 9,000


INTER				2-1			ROMA
Vieri 7							Aldair 32
Baggio 41

Baggio fed Vieri, Tomassi kicked fresh air instead of the ball and the big
man finished superbly, lifting the ball over Antonioli as he came off his
line. Di Francesco almost scored an immediate equaliser but slipped before
he managed to fire off a shot after smoking Blanc in the box. Aldair headed
in Cafu's corner. A comedy of errors led to Inter's winner, Cafu messed up
a clearance, Vieri fell as he shot, the ball broke to Moriero, his shot was
blocked by Antonioli and Baggio superbly hooked in the rebound over Cafu's
head..

Vieri should have been booked for a dive in the box. Baggio's shot bounced
off Vieri and fell to Moriero who wasted a great chance to make the game
save as he turned and blazed over the bar. Roma wasted two more great
chances when longballs over the top caught out the Inter defence, Cafu shot
straight at Peruzzi from Mangoni's pass and Gourenko, on for the bloody
awful Nakata, picked out Totti, he beat Peruzzi to the ball but it bounced
off the post and Simic cleared as Totti steamed in for the rebound.

Cordoba is an absolute horse and awesome on the ground and Simic is no
slouch either but Inter are awful at dealing with crosses and balls over the
top, Panucci is bloody useless in the air and Blanc is too slow to make a
difference. Also after this match the commentators were saying many
people think the Scudetto will be won by Juve, other than Daniele Paserman
and myself I can't recally hearing many people say that, certainly not the
press.