A dramatic set of results leaves Lazio hanging onto top spot by one point, 
Lazio minus their first choice back four crash at home to Juve and Zac leads 
Milan to a sensational 5-1 away victory over former club Udinese. Parma,
Fiorentina and Roma also drop points to end a super week for Milan.

17 April 1999

BOLOGNA			3-0			FIORENTINA
Simutenkov 28
Bettarini 58
Kolyvanov 69

Fiorentina started brightly with Edmundo having a goal ruled out for offside.
Padalino's hospital pass gifted Simutenkov the opening goal. Antonioli pulled
off great saves to deny Rui Costa and Oliveira. Simutenkov? struck a free
kick against the Fiorentina wall Bettarini sent the rebound ripping past
Toldo with a fantastic volley. Kolyvanov chipped Toldo when put through by
Binotto. 

Red Card(s) : Falcone 70 (Fiorentina)
Attendance : 28,524


LAZIO				1-3			JUVENTUS
Mancini 57						Henry 34, 65
							Amoruso 44

Henry took a pop from about 30yds and somehow Marchegiani completely missed
the flight of the ball. Awful mistake. Amoruso was marginally offside when he
put away Tacchinardi's cross. Mancini headed in a corner but any hopes of a 
comeback were ended when Marchegiani gifted Henry his second goal after
spilling Davids's tame free kick. Vieri tried his best and came close to 
scoring in each half with shots against the post and crossbar but 
Vieri + Sales - Mihajlovic = Lazio suck. 

Attendance : 60,000


PARMA				1-1			SAMPDORIA
Sensini 43						Montella 53 (Pen)

Montella's shot rebounded off the crossbar and the vastly overrated Pecchia
headed wide from point blank range. Palmieri should have been sent off for a
foul from behind on Chiesa. Sensini curled in the resulting free kick. Chiesa
missed an open goal. Palmieri hurled himself over Buffon to win a penalty.
Buffon got a hand to Montella's penalty but the ball bounced in off the post.
A fair result although Ferron was the busier of the two 'keepers. Ortega was
fantastic but Montella still looks way off his best. Parma are in real danger
of missing out on a Champions league place next season.


18 April 1999

BARI				0-0			SALERNITANA

Di Michele had a goal harshly disallowed for offside after he slammed in
a rebound from a free kick. Bernardini struck the crossbar from a free
kick. Bari are desperately missing Masinga's goals. 

Attendance : 25,000


EMPOLI				1-2			PIACENZA
Fusco 68							Mazzola 69
							Dionigi 88

Fusco gave Empoli the lead with a great long range strike. Mazzola pounced
on a loose ball from a corner and Dionigi won the match with a header from a
free kick. 

Attendance : 9,069
Red Card(s) : Camara 90 (Empoli)


INTER				1-1			VICENZA
Ronaldo 42 (Penalty)					Beghetto 51

Pagliuca saved a pathetic penalty from Negri after Colonesse fouled Zauli.
Dicara fouled Ventola in the box, Ronaldo slammed in the penalty. Beghetto
smashed in the equaliser with a great half volley. Negri shot straight at
Pagliuca after a Vicenza player stole the ball off Sousa. Vicenza had the 
better chances in the second half. Inter get worse each week.

Attendance : 65,000


PERUGIA				3-2			ROMA
Tedesco 22						Matrecano 23 (og)
Petrachi 46						Di Francesco 39
Rapajic 88

Konsel spilled Rapajic's free kick, Tedesco gobbled up the rebound. Matrecano
turned Di Francesco's cross past his own 'keeper. Di Francesco punished some
abysmal defending to give Roma the lead although the ball took a deflection
off Tedesco which begs the question why does Matrecano's deflection count
as an own goal but Tedeso's doesn't? Aldair stood and watched as Petrachi
headed in Rapajic's cross. Totti struck the inside of the post. Mazzantini,
who had another super game, pulled off a contender for save of the season, 
Aldair back heeled Tomassi's volley and the ex-Inter 'keeper somehow managed
to claw the ball over the bar, similar to the infamous save by Banks from
Pele. Rapajic won the game when put through by Nakata and helped by Zago's
unfortunate slip.

Attendance : 20,000
Red Card(s) : Alenichev 78 (Roma)


UDINESE			1-5			MILAN
Amoroso 57						Boban 15 (Pen), 39
							Bierhoff 44, 60
							Weah 63

Zac continued with the 3-5-2 formation employed successfully last week against
Parma. Bertotto gifted Milan a penalty with a blatant hand ball under little
pressure in his penalty area. Boban despatched the penalty with ease and 
started and ended the move that lead to his second, spraying the ball wide to
Weah who skinned two defenders on the touch line before passing to Boban whose
miss-hit shot took 6 weeks to trickle over the goal line. Bierhoff headed in
two Albertini free kicks and crossed for Weah to head into an empty net.
Amoroso ran onto a pass from Sosa, juggled the ball off his chest and fired
past Abbiati.

Abbiati pulled off several exceptional early saves. Once his decision making
on crosses improves the sky's the limit. Maldini was fortunate to escape
with a yellow card after hacking down Amoroso when he was through on goal
and Udinese should have been awarded a penalty after Ambrosini ran over 
Amoroso in the box. Maldini got the better of Amoroso in a great contest. 
Albertini had his best game for Milan in years, Weah also had a superb game 
but man of the match was Boban who was off the charts awesome and continues
to excel now he has been given greater freedom. Milan were fortunate at times
but well worth the victory but not by such an emphatic scoreline. Zac and
Bierhoff refused to celebrate any of the goals as a sign of respect to their
former club.

Attendance : 35,000


VENEZIA				1-0			CAGLIARI
Recoba 72

A Recoba free kick proved enough in this mid-table clash although he wasted
a great chance later on after Tuta's surging run. Recoba's weakness is that
he's too selfish in possession.

Attendance : 9,745