22 January 2006
FIORENTINA 2-0

MESSINA

Toni 46, 72    
     
Toni struck the underside of the crossbar twice, George made a couple of great
saves and Fiorentina wasted another six or so chances before finally taking the
lead late in the first half. Pazzini headed down a longball and Toni ran wide of
a defender before hooking the ball into the corner, reminiscent of a goal Van
Basten scored in a Milan derby. Everton flop Kroldrup, who didn't get a chance
to make a name for himself due to injuries, made his Fiorentina debut in the
second half. Brocchi found Toni out wide left with a crossfield pass, he brought
the ball under control, went past two defenders then curled then curled inside a
post, brilliant goal.

Attendance : 25,000
Assists : Pazzini, Brocchi
 
 
ASCOLI 2-0

LECCE

Ferrante 4    
Bjelanovic 37    
     
An untimely slip by a Lecce defender allowed Ferrante to run onto a long ball
and fire Ascoli into the lead although the 'keeper should have done better.
Minutes after Coppola made a brilliant save to deny Vucinic an equaliser, Foggia
broke from the half-way line and lobbed a ball out wide to the unmarked Fini who
had time to measure a cross and still got it wrong but Bjelanovic stooped to
head into the bottom corner.

Attendance : 9,000
Red Card : Del Grosso 63 (Ascoli)
Assists : Comotto, Fini
 
 
JUVENTUS 2-1

EMPOLI

Cannavaro 17, 77  

Almiron 3

     
Vannucchi touched a free kick to Almiron and he sent a blistering first time
shot screaming into the top corner. Cannavaro met Camoranesi's free kick with a
spectacularbut low diving header which Berti somehow managed to let sneak past
him into the net. After the break Zebina made his return to first team action.
Berti, who was terrible on every cross, ball watched Cannavaro head in Del
Piero's corner. Cannavaro got a nice boost off Lucchini by grabbing his shirt
with both hands and pushing himself off. That's damn clever. Del Piero hit the
crossbar twice.

Attendance : 26,292
Assists : Vannucchi (fk), Camoranesi (fk), Del Piero (ck)
 
 
LIVORNO 1-1

TREVISO

Galante 93  

Reginaldo 7

     
Reginaldo spun onto a miss-hit shot to volley Treviso into the lead. Boriello
wasted a glorious chance to increase Treviso's lead. Livorno eventually figured
Treviso out and continually ripped through their offside trap but with no real
pace in attack failed to take advantage. In the third minute of injury time
Paulinho headed Bakayoko's free kick against a defender and Galante lashed the
ball into the net.

Attendance : 12,000
Red Cards : Gustavo 77 (Treviso), E Filippini 93 (Treviso)
Assists : Maggio, n/a
 
 
PARMA 2-1

CHIEVO

Rossi 47  

Amauri 26

Simplicio (83 Pen)    
     
Chievo recycled a corner, Semioli whipped a perfect cross into the box for Amauri to
head past Guardalben. Chievo should have been well clear before 18 year old
defender Rossi equalised, headed in his first ever Serie A goal. Marchionni got
Fontana sent off by doing the old hooking a leg over the goalkeeper trick. Simplicio
converted the penalty to move Parma within touching distance of safety.

Attendance : 12,500
Red Cards : Fontana 80 (Chievo), Rossi 87 (Parma)
Assists : Semioli, Morfeo, Marchionni (won pen)
 
 
REGGINA 2-1

SAMPDORIA

Paredes 7  

Kutozov 45

Amoruso 47    
     
Antonioli punched out a corner, Mesto met the ball first time but sent a poorly
struck volley bobbling along the turf, as the ball came to Paredes he hit a
spectacular, mid-air back heel volley, sending the ball into the opposite corner
of the net. Reggina were giving Samp a taste of their own medicine and causing
all manner of problems from set pieces and crosses. Kutuzov recovered
brilliantly to equalise after initially falling on his arse when attempting to
shoot. Amoruso restored Reggina's lead by heading in a corner just before half
time.

Attendance : 15,000
Assists : Mesto, n/a, Cozza
 
 
SIENA 0-3

MILAN

   

Kaka' 12, 84

   

Shevchenko 69

     
Pirlo played a short corner into Gattuso, he stuck a high cross in the air, Stam
headed down and Kaka' poked in from close range. Milan got a wake-up call early
in the second when Chiesa's shot came back off a post. This forced the Rossoneri
to move up a gear and their pressure paid off when Mirante spilled a cross and
Shevchenko tapped into an empty net. Shevchenko picked out Kaka' with an
excellent cross out wide and the Brazilian shaped to centre for the expecting
Gilardino only to roll the ball inside the post.

Attendance : 13,500
Assists : Stam, n/a, Shevchenko
 
 
UDINESE 1-4

ROMA

Di Natale 66  

Mancini 40 (Pen), 76

   

De Rossi 62

   

Chivu 79 (Pen)

     
Udinese started well and Roma looked nervous in the absence of Totti but Pinzi
gave them a helping hand, literally, by violently pushing Cufre in the face in
full view of the referee. Roma took the lead from the penalty spot after Chivu
had his run checked by Felipe. The Italian commentator claimed it was dubious,
for once I didn't agree. De Rossi, who by no stretch of the imagination is a
tall player, jumped between two much bigger but static Udinese players to head
in Roma's second. Udinese's coach was sent off for casting aspersions on the
referees parentage and, hilariously, Di Natale scored immediately, volleying in
Zenoni's cross at the near post. Cosmi is so doomed. Roma went up a gear and
Mancini, who looks more Bangladeshi than Brazilian, restored their two goal
advantage when he raced onto Taddei's pass and rounded the 'keeper before
shooting in off a post. Mancini then made Bertotto look like a complete fool
with a series of dummies on the edge of the box, after such humiliation Bertotto
had no choice but to bring him down. Mancini passed up the chance to complete a
hat-trick by leaving the penalty duties to Chivu .

Attendance : 17,000
Red Card : Pinzi 23 (Udinese)
Assists : Chivu (won pen), Bovo (ck), Zenoni, Taddei, Mancini (won pen)
 
 
21 January 2006
 
 
LAZIO 1-1

CAGLIARI

Di Canio 37  

Gobbi 69

     
Di Canio made up for a terrible early miss by heading Lazio into the lead from
Oddo's cross. Siviglia was sent off for kicking Abeijon - after the midfielder
elbowed him in the head. Gobbi, wearing a gimp mask to protect his nose,
finished off a nice passing move to equalise. Cribari had a goal disallowed for
no good reason and Liverani was sent off for apparently elbowing Canini, even
the Cagliari players were stunned. However Liverani showed real class by not
protesting and shaking the refs hand as he left the field.

This ref, Mazzoleni, must support Roma because he really screwed over Lazio in
this match, it was the most blatantly biased officiating I have seen in a long
time.

Attendance : 25,000
Red Card : Siviglia 41 (Lazio), Liverani 79 (Lazio)
Assists : Oddo, Capone
 
 
INTER 3-0

PALERMO

Cambiasso 33    
Cordoba 75    
Figo 80    
     
Cordoba headed on a Figo corner and Cambiasso beat Lupatelli with a powerful
near post header. There were chances raining in on goal at both ends which is
strange because when I was switching between this live and another match it
seemed duller than an episode of Friends. Figo appeared to score direct from a
corner, Cordoba claimed it but Terlizzi got the last touch. Figo, who is still
great, did get himself on the score-sheet with a spectacular free kick from a
ludicrous angle.

Attendance : 48,942
Assists : Cordoba, n/a, ? (won fk)
 
 
R Mehdi