22 September 2004

ATALANTA			2-3			INTER
Budan 25						Stankovic 54
Pazzini 89						Recoba 79
							Adriano 92

Adriano struck the crossbar with a 40 yard lob. Burdisso, sporting a fabulous
tight perm, marked his Serie A debut with a hospital pass to Budan, Toldo flew
off his line and can count himself lucky that Budan jumped over him because he
could have easily won a penalty and got him a red card, he rounded Toldo and
tapped into an empty net. Stankovic equalised with an absolutely fantastic
header from a ridiculous angle wide left on the edge of the box, easily one of
the best headers I have ever seen. The enigma that is Recoba came off the bench,
received a pass 20 odd yards from goal, did a pirouette then shot into the
bottom corner. Pazzini looked to have earned a point when he blasted in a
rebound after his initial shot was charged down before Atalanta were hit by
the Adriano effect. He picked up the ball on the half way line, turned, ran over
Natali, cut inside then unleashed a shot which Taibi really should have saved.

My advice to any defender marking Adriano, good f**cking luck.

Attendance : 20,000
Assists : n/a, van der Meyde, n/a, Emre, n/a


BRESCIA				0-2			LAZIO
							Rocchi 29
							Couto 45

Oddo hit a longball downfield, either a defender slipped or Rocchi fouled him the end
result was Lazio took the lead. Brescia were lucky not to concede a penalty when
one of the Filippini brothers was hauled down in or on the edge of the box. Couto,
in his last season before retiring and taking up a new post as head donkey on Blackpool
Pleasure Beach, rose superbly to head in Oddo's free kick. Rocchi was sent off for a
forwards tackle on Bianchi.

Attendance : 8,000
Assists : Oddo, Oddo (fk)
Red Card : Rocchi 45 (Pen)


CAGLIARI			2-0			SIENA
Esposito 18
Suazo 76

Manninger saved Esposito's penalty but he scored on the rebound. After missing two
open goals Patrick Swayze ran half the length of the pitch and dribbled past two players
before lashing the ball into the roof of the net. Cagliari are fourth. What?

Attendance : 12,000
Assist : n/a, Albino


CHIEVO				0-0			UDINESE

There were lots of shots and saves and stuff but it was 0-0, goalless draws suck like
a whore with asthma.

Attendance : 7,375


MILAN				1-2			MESSINA
Pancaro 54						Giampa' 55
							Zampagna 59

Milan should have been several goals up before Pancaro headed them into the lead
from a corner. The Milan defence gifted Messina the equaliser, Zampagna ran
between Cafu and Maldini before slotting past Cafu. The defending for Messina's
next goal was even worse, Maldini didn't bother jumping for Parisi's cross and
Zampagna powered his header past Dida. As you would expect Messina were pegged
back but Shevchenko and Tomasson failed to take their chances and Rui Costa
hammered a shot against the crossbar.

"We were facing a very determined and close-knit team that never gave in. We
must give Messina a round of applause, because they deserved it. We need to be
more concentrated in defence and will be from Sunday. It’s not as if my players
have suddenly forgotten how to play but we do need to work through some elements
of our game." - Carlo Ancelotti 

"This is a dream come true, as we never expected to come here and win. The
victory against Roma was fantastic but this is an historic moment for Messina
and all of Sicily. We did well to close down their creative centres and found
moments when their defence was off guard. Drawing level so quickly after their
goal put us right back in the game." - Bortolo Mutti 

Attendance : 55,000
Assists : Kaka' (ck), Sullo, Parisi


PALERMO			0-0			FIORENTINA

Attendance : 34,000
Assists : n/a


PARMA				1-2			BOLOGNA
Cannavaro 58						Locatelli 13
							Petruzzi 18

Boy are Parma knackered. Locatelli finished off a nice move involving the official best
player at Euro 2004, Leicester's own Zagorakis, and Nervo. The prolific Petruzzi
scored his 4th goal in 15 years when he turned to volley Zagorakis' shot past Frey.
Maccarone, who my friend met on an aeroplane a few weeks ago, headed over
with the goal at his mercy.

I wonder if the reason no one signed Gilardino was because they figured Parma would
be shit this year and he would struggle to score thus reducing his price at the end of
the season. If they don't win this weekend Baldini is history.

Attendance : 12,880
Assists : Nervo, Zagorakis, Morfeo


REGGINA			2-1			LIVORNO
Bonazzoli 9						Lucarelli A 31
Colucci 61

Bonazzoli beat the offside trap and just as he did on Sunday finished with
aplomb, pulling down a 50 yard pass then volleying into the corner. Lucarelli's
younger brother who is strangely enough called Lucarelli equalised from a corner
before eating an elbow and getting busted wide open. Amelia made an
extraordinary save from Nakamura but Colucci was on hand to whack in the
rebound. The older Lucarelli blew a great chance to score an equaliser. There
were another million and one chances in this match and some wild fouls.
Fantastic match.

Attendance : 15,000
Assists : Mozart, Colombo, n/a


ROMA				2-2			LECCE
Cassano 54						Cassetti 40
Mancini 72						Bojinov 59

Cassetti dribbled past Ferrari and Cufre before beating Pelizzoli with a shot at his near
post. Roma were awarded a penalty. Totti tried to do a Panenka and with that type
of penalty you're a genius if it works and a twat when it doesn't and it didn't. Roma
equalised against the run of play on the counter attack, Cassano finishing brilliantly
from Montella's pass. Bojinov restored Lecce's lead with a fantastic lob before Mancini
equalised from Mido's centre.

Attendance : 45,000
Assists : ?, Montella, Giacomazzi, Mido


SAMPDORIA			0-3			JUVENTUS
							Del Piero 19 (Pen)
							Ibrahimovic 69
							Trezeguet 86

Dondarini had an appalling game. He dreamed up a penalty for absolutely nothing.
Juve's charity case, Del Piero, converted. Ibrahimovic scored minutes after coming
on as a sub for Del Piero, tapping in Nedved's centre. Trezeguet struck a beautiful
right foot volley into the bottom corner then the Juve players convinced Dondarini
to change his mind after he awarded Samp a penalty.

Attendance : 40,000
Assists : Emerson (won pen), Nedved, n/a