24 FEBRUARY 2002

TORINO				2-2			JUVENTUS
Ferrante 64						Trezeguet 10
Cauet 80						Maresca 89

Davids did a number on Vergassola on the left wing then floated a cross
into the box  where Trezeguet headed in, unmarked. Mezzano made a
World Class tackle, ripping the ball from Nedved as he bore down on
goal then he brought the best out of Buffon with a tremendous strike
from 20yds. A red card seemed certain as tackles were flying in from
both sides but the ref did well to regain control of the game. Juve let
their neighbours back into the match from a Maspero free kick. Thuram
headed the ball back towards his own goal, Pessotto tried to clear but
Ferrante was on hand to screw the ball into the corner. Cauet released
Lucarelli with an breathtaking disguised pass, Lucarelli went wide and
took two Juve defenders with him before centring into the box and Cauet
arrived to slam the ball into the net. Maresca equalised with a superb
header from a deep Thuram cross and then infuriated the home supporters
by imitating Ferrante and doing a bull horns celebration (Torino's logo
is a bull). Bucci made a superb last minute save from Trezeguet.

Another awesome Turin derby. Not only do Italy have an abundance of quality
goalkeepers they also have an abundance of quality strikers. With the
exceptions of Italy (obviously), France and Brazil, Lucarelli would be
an automatic starter for every other national team.

Attendance : 50,000
Assists : Davids, Lucarelli, Thuram


ATALANTA			0-1			LAZIO
							Poborsky 78

Stankovic's cross hit a defender and ballooned up in the air, Poborsky went
airborne and knocked a volley over the 'keeper. Brilliant finish.
		
Attendance : 15,000


BOLOGNA			2-1			VERONA
Fresi 78							Gilardino 75
Cruz 90

Verona took the lead against the run of play. Gonnella headed down a corner
and Gilardino poked the ball past Pagliuca. For some reason Mazzola thought
it would be a good idea to head Signori's corner kick towards his own goal,
Ferron made a great save but was helpless from the rebound and Fresi drew
Bologna level. Bologna won the match from another corner. Fresi flicked on
the ball and Cruz scored with an acrobatic volley!

Cruz is playing as well as he ever did for Feyenoord, a remarkable
improvement given his performances during the first half of the season.

Attendance : 20,800
Assists : Gonnella, Fresi
Red Card : Castellini 92 (Bologna)


CHIEVO				1-1			BRESCIA
Corradi 43						Toni 81

Not surprisingly Corini made Chievo's goal. Corradi got on the end of his free
kick but made poor contact, heading the ball straight into the ground but
Srnicek was slow to react and the ball looped up into the net. Legrottaglie
was sent off for sticking a forearm into Pellegrino. Toni volleyed in the
equaliser from Sussi's cross.

Attendance : 9,800
Assists : Corini, Sussi
Red Card : Legrottaglie 68 (Chievo)


FIORENTINA			1-2			LECCE
Di Livio 42						Vugrinec 47
							Chevanton 82

Di Livio gave Fiorentina the lead with a superb shot from 25yds, maintaining
his miserable average of a goal every season. Fiorentina's lead last all of two
minutes, Vugrinec equalised from Chevanton's free kick. Fiorentina dominated
but Lecce stole the points from another free kick, this time it was Chevanton
who scored from Tonetto's cross. Mijatovic won Fiorentina an injury time
penalty with a trademark dive but Adriano hit the outside of a post.

Attendance : 15,000
Assists : Adriano, Chevanton, Tonetto


INTER				3-2			UDINESE
Vieri 27							Muzzi 78
Ventola 67						Pinzi 89
Conceicao 86

Turci punched out a Recoba cross, Seedorf headed the ball back into the box
and Vieri volleyed into the net. Di Biagio stole the ball off Helguera and passed
to Ventola, 2-0. Martinez turned Materazzi inside out before taking a pop at
goal, his shot was hopelessly wide but Muzzi was on hand to poke the ball
into the net. A treacherous goal kick by Turci sealed Udinese's fate, despite
what the score line suggests, his weak goal kick went straight to Conceicao,
he jinked his way past a few players then smashed the ball into the top corner.
Pinzi scored a great consolation goal. He latched onto a  weak clearance from
Zanetti, controlled the ball on his chest and crashed a half volley inside the
post.

Attendance : 55,000
Assists : Seedorf, Di Biagio, Martinez


PIACENZA			2-3			PARMA
Hubner 80, 94 (Pen)					Di Vaio 30
							Micoud 42
							Boghossian 73

A Piacenza defenders clearance was headed down by Micoud, Di Vaio let the
ball bounce then sent a right foot half volley ripping into the net. Outstanding
strike. Micoud scored at the second attempt after his initial shot was blocked.
Boghossian scored his first goal in years, literally, with a powerful header from
Junior's cross. Sloppy defending cost Parma two late goals from Hubner, the
second a penalty.

Di Vaio is the best finisher in the World.

Attendance : 9,000
Assists : Micoud, Junior, Hubner


VENEZIA				1-4			MILAN
Maniero 16						Kaladze 12
							Moreno 66, 78
							Contra 74

Magallanes wasted a great early chance then Milan hit the lead. Shevchenko
laid off Pirlo's cross and Kaladze blasted the ball into the roof of the net.
Sloppy defending by Roque Junior handed former Milan player Maniero the
equaliser. Javi Moreno put Milan back in front  with an amazing header and
Contra, who supplied the cross, punished poor positioning from Rossi to score
from a tight angle. More horrible 'keeping from Rossi gave Javi Moreno his
second goal.

A much needed confidence boost from Milan ahead of the derby but Toldo isn't
likely to play like a trained chimp as Rossi did today for Venezia.

Attendance : 10,000
Assists : Shevchenko, Contra (x2), Jose Mari


23 FEBRUARY 2002

ROMA				1-0			PERUGIA
Montella

Typical Roma rubbish. The most entertaining moment was provided by
Cordoba who dummied Candela when the defender tried to charge down a
kick. Montella scored his first goal of the season with a near post header
following great work by Delvecchio and Candela.

Assist : Candela

R Mehdi