22 April 2006
 
ASCOLI 2-2

CAGLIARI
Ferrante 18  

Suazo 53, 64
Domizzi 73 (Pen)    
     
Ferrante met Del Grosso's teasing cross with a glancing header which caught Chimenti
by surprise. Canini was sent off for pulling back Bjelanovic as he ran in on goal. Bega
followed him minutes later for protesting. Suazo had a shot charged down but was
first onto the rebound and waltzed through the Ascoli defence to equalise. 10 minutes
later Cotini hit a long ball over the top of the Ascoli defence and while they appealed
in vain for offside, Suazo drew out the 'keeper and tapped in his second. Referee
De Sanctis, who will be the only Italian ref at the World Cup and is one of the worst
possible choices, gave Ascoli a penalty for no reason whatsoever then dished out a
second yellow to Cristiano for kicking Suazo.

Attendance : 12,500
Red Card : Canini 21 (Cagliari), Bega 23 (Cagliari), Cristiano 89 (Ascoli)
Assists : Del Grosso, n/a, Cotini, Ferrante (won pen)
 
 
FIORENTINA 2-1

EMPOLI
Rigano 43 (og)  

Rigano 66
Jimenez 58    
     
Former Fiorentina striker Cristiano Rigano deflected Pasqual's free kick into his own net.
Jorgensen ran onto a loose ball after Toni, who looked especially slow today, hit a shot
into a defender, he juggled the ball before floating a cross over to the back post
leaving Jimenez with an easy header. Lobont made an excellent point blank save
from Rigano but he scrambled the rebound over the line.

Attendance : 35,000
Assists : n/a, Jorgensen, n/a
 
 
INTER 4-0

REGGINA
Cruz 16 (Pen), 92  

 
Martins 23    
Cesar 27    
     
Adriano was dropped for being a prick. His replacement, Cruz, began the slaughter
from the penalty spot after Pizarro's theatrics conned the ref. Martins made it 2-0
following some rapid fire passing between Stankovic and Cristiano Zanetti. Cruz made
a goal for Cesar with a fantastic right wing cross even Figo would have been proud of.
Man of the match Cruz completed the rout from a pass by another of Argentina's fringe
players, Solari.

Attendance : 35,000
Assists : Pizarro (won pen), C Zanetti, Cruz, Solari
 
 
JUVENTUS 1-1

LAZIO
Trezeguet 87  

Rocchi 29
     
Siviglia almost scored an own goal after Peruzzi spilled a cross. Trezeguet flashed a
half volley wide of a post and Vieira sent a powerful header against the bar.
Ibrahimovic also went close with a shot from distance. Dabo fired a ball down the right
channel, Pandev centred and Rocchi shot first time under Abbiati. Dabo had a goal
disallowed for one of those was he/was he not interfering in play offsides. Dabo was
shown a straight red for his protests, which seemed extraordinarily harsh. Juve didn't
play anywhere near as well in the second half but broke through following a great move
on the edge of the Lazio penalty box. Vieira passed Del Piero's deflected cross into
Nedved, he played a one-two with Vieira then headed his pass towards Trezeguet who
flicked the ball over Peruzzi as he strayed off his line. Nedved hit a power puff shot at
Peruzzi after Ibrahimovic held up a pass and in stoppage time the giant Swede missed
a totally open goal.

JUVENTUS : Siena (A), Palermo (H), Reggina (A)
MILAN : Livorno (H), Parma (A), Roma (H)

Attendance : 34,000
Red Card : Dabo 34 (Lazio)
Assists : Pandev, Nedved
 
 
LECCE 1-1

TREVISO
Vucinic 3  

Reginaldo 83
     
Giacomazzi swung a cross over to Vucinic who was given a ridiculous amount of time
and space in which to score. Ledesma was sent off for kicking De Martino in the back.
Lecce eventually tired and following a series of close shaves a slack header let in
Reginaldo for the equaliser.

Lecce are relegated. Vucinic is expected to join Roma. Ledesma was a target for Milan
and Juve last season but I don't expect either to make a bid given his performances
this campaign. The same could be said for Cassetti. Giacomazzi is a gifted player and
would be a good addition to clubs like Roma, Fiorentina and Lazio i.e. clubs who
would be expected to fight for a Champions League place.

Attendance : 350
Red Card : Ledesma 33 (Lecce)
Assists : Giacomazzi, n/a
 
 
LIVORNO 3-1

PALERMO
Lucarelli 4 (Pen), 41, 50  

Tedesco 92
     
Livorno, who have lost seven consecutive games, went ahead after from the spot after
Palladino was fouled in the box. Lucarelli made it 2-0 against the run of play, heading
in an excellent cross from Balleri. Belleri caught Barzagli dithering on the ball near his
box and fired in a cross which Zaccardo almost turned into his own net, the ball came
back off a post leaving Lucarelli with a tap-in to complete his hat-trick. Tedesco
scrambled in a consolation goal.

Attendance : 10,500
Assists : Palladino (won pen), Belleri, n/a, n/a
 
 
MESSINA 1-3

MILAN
Sculli 6  

Jankulovski 33
   

Gattuso 44
   

Gilardino 90
     
Dida made another of his blunders to hand Messina the lead. He failed to hold onto a
tame free kick, Nesta slipped as he tried to clear, while fouling Muslimovic at the same
time, and Sculli broke from the wall to score. Kaka' was stretchered off after injuring his
knee when attempting to hurdle Nocerino's body check. Dida almost fumbled in another
before Jankulovski, who came on for Ambrosini who in turn had replaced Kaka', got a
nervous Milan back on track with a near post half volley, similar to the chance Gilardino
missed against Barca. Gattuso beat George with a speculative shot from 25 yards.
At the end of the first half Nocerino was sent off for pulling back Shevchenko, who
could have scored a hat-trick. George sold Aronica short on a pass from goal, Seedorf
intercepted and lobbed the ball upto Gilardino who tapped into an empty net. Aronica
took out his frustrations on Cafu, Seedorf got in his face, they both gave each other
love taps and walked - on the advice of a linesman as the ref had his back to play.

Attendance : 30,000
Red Cards : Nocerino 45 (Messina), Sculli 87 (Messina), Aronica 90 (Messina),
Seedorf 90 (Milan)
Assists : n/a, n/a, Serginho, Seedorf
 
 
PARMA 1-1

SIENA
Morfeo 63  

Guzman 23
     
The Parma defence got caught ball watching Fortin's massive goalkick and Guzman
nipped in to score as Cannavaro Jr tried to head the ball back to his 'keeper. Corradi
held up a high cross for Morfeo to drill home the equaliser, his first goal from open play
this season.

Attendance : 13,000
Assists : n/a, Corradi
 
 
ROMA 0-0

SAMPDORIA
     
Attendance : 40,000
Red Card : Mexes 89 (Roma)
Assists : n/a
 
 
UDINESE 1-1

CHIEVO
Di Natale 77  

Pellissier 88 (Pen)
     
This was a very interesting 'development' in this match - if it's taken further. They had
a camera fixed on the goal-line and by pure coincidence Udinese striker Barreto looked
to have give his team the lead with a wonderful lob but the ball was cleared off the
line. This camera however showed the ball had clearly crossed the line. Of course
there's no chance of FIFA adopting this method while that imbecile Bladder is in
charge, especially as they have a deal with Addidas who have developed the insanely
expensive chip in ball technology. Anyway Udinese were all over Chievo and should
have had the points wrapped up long before Di Natale finally beat Jimmy Fontana with
a deflected shot. Bertotto gave away a late penalty with a stupid foul on Pellissier and
he made up for a shocking miss minutes earlier by converting.

Attendance : 15,000
Assists : n/a, Pellissier (won pen)
 
 
R Mehdi