SERIE A ROUND 16
 
DAYLIGHT ROBBERY

An injury time equaliser for Crespo denies Juve top spot as Lazio defeat Bologna.
Cagliari finally earn their first win of the season, Perugia suffer a humiliating home
defeat against Udinese. Milan and Roma battle out a superb 2-2 draw, more despair
for Inter as they crash to an injury time winner at Fiorentina.

9 JANUARY 2000

BARI				3-0			VENEZIA
Perrotta 28
Enynnaya 85
D Andersson 90 (Pen)
 
Di Stefani flicked on a Del Gross throw in and Perrotta poked the ball past Konsel.
Venezia best chance of the first half fell to Ganz but he denied by a great save from
Mancini.

Mancini kept Venezia at bay in the second half with fine saves from Valtolina and
Volpi. Enynnaya  (someone please give him a nickname) made the game safe with
a flick header from Collauto's free kick. Enynnaya went down way too easy in the
box from Luppi's foul, Andersson converted the pen. Since Bari have lost their top
striker they're banging in goals, go figure.

Attendance : 15,571


CAGLIARI			3-0			PIACENZA
Oliveira 48
Mboma 94, 95

It's taken them 16 weeks but they've finally done it. Mayele stole the ball on the
half way line, rode two tackles and set-up Oliveira for an easy finish. Zebina got
Gautieri sent off for a total overreaction to a love tap. Mayele turned provider again
on the right flank, this time for Mboma. Mboma grabbed his second with a powerful
run and shot.

Red Card(s) : Gautieri 93 (Piacenza)
Attendance : 15,000


LAZIO				3-1			BOLOGNA
Salas 42							Andersson 50
Nedved 76
Ravanelli 93

Signori blasted a shot off the crossbar. Mihajlovic wasted a penalty. Nedved's shot
rebounded off the post and fell to Salas to head in. 

Bologna equalised when Andersson headed in Signori's cross. Nedved headed in
Conceicao's cross. Nedved was sent off for whining, Paramatti was sent off for a
block on Ravanelli. Ravanelli then charged down the wing, turned a defender in
the box and his slow motion shot wrong footed Pagliuca. 

Red Card(s) : Nedved 83 (Lazio), Paramatti 89 (Bologna)
Attendance : 70,000


PARMA				1-1			JUVENTUS
Crespo 92						Del Piero 69 (Pen)

Inzaghi should have put in the lead as early as the 3rd minute, he wasted a great
chance when put through by Del Piero, Del Piero's misery in front of goal continued
as he horribly screwed a shot wide from close range. 

It was a similar story in the second half i.e. all Juve, Inzaghi missed another great
chance from Zidane's pass, the Frenchman having one of those all too rare games
when he looked magic. Two magnificent tackles from Thuram and minutes later
Cannavaro denied Del Piero two un-missable goalscoring chances. Juve were
awarded a penalty after Torrisi fouled Inzaghi in the box, yes it was a foul not a
dive. Del Piero converted. Torrisi was finally sent off after a string of cynical fouls
throughout the match. Buffon saved with his feet from Inzaghi. Dino Baggio was
sent off for a murder attempt on Zambrotta. Crespo then scored with what
appeared to be Parma's only shot on target in the entire match, he had a lot of
work to do when he received Walem's pass but he ran into the box, turned Ferrara
inside out and struck a shot in off the far post. Daylight robbery, not that I'm
complaining and a minor miracle, an exciting Juve match.

Red Card(s) : Torrisi 71 (Parma), D Baggio 77 (Parma)
Attendance : 29,748


PERUGIA				0-5			UDINESE
							Sottil 13
							Calori 19 (og)
							Manfredini 24
							Fiore 41
							Jorgensen 74

It started well for Perugia, Turci making a great save from Amoruso's header.
That was about as good as it got for the home team. Sottil tapped in from Fiore's
centre. Calori brilliantly chipped his own 'keeper from 30yds. Jorgensen, Fiore and
Muzzi combined to give Manfredini a goal. Muzzi then made one for Fiore. Non of
these goals were anything special, just plain bad defending. Jorgensen completed
the rout with an easy finish from a beautifully weighted pass from Muzzi.

Attendance : 15,000


TORINO				1-2			LECCE
Ferrante 81 (Pen)						Lucarelli 66, 90

The locals were restless, setting fires in the stadiums, they're like their team, a
bunch of thugs. Bonomi made a brilliant goal-line clearance to deny Lucarelli a
certain goal. It must have been the shits of a first half because that was the only
highlight shown.

Lucarelli killed the ball from a long free kick with his right and swept the ball past
Bucci with his left. Brambilla was hauled down in the box, Ferrante converted the
penalty. Cyprien flicked on the ball in the box, Lucarelli fired low past Bucci. Torino
look doomed even at this early stage of the season, their sixth successive defeat.

Attendance : 20,000


VERONA				1-1			REGGINA
Adailton 77 (Pen)						Pirlo 38 
 
Verona's yellow shorts and blue shirts DO NOT MIX. Pirlo smashed a free kick off
the post, it rebounded off Frey into the net. At the other end Belardi made a great
double save from a free kick inside the box. A ridiculous foul in the box by Brevi
earned him a red card and Adailton a penalty and the equaliser. A fantastic block
by Frey denied Kallon. Salvetti's deflected shot bounced off the post to safety.
I hope Frey goes to a big club after his loan spell from Inter ends, he deserves it,
he's pure class.

Red Card(s) : Brevi 76 (Reggina)
Attendance : 13,909


FIORENTINA			2-1			INTER
Batistuta 37						Recoba 70
Adani 91

A horrid mistake by Peruzzi gifted Fiorentina the lead, he completely missed a fierce
Chiesa cross (who had a stellar game) leaving Batistuta with a tap-in. Probably the
worst mistake Peruzzi has made (discounting those idiotic charges off his line).

Inter had a goal disallowed, presumably because Zamorano's cross went out of play,
replays suggested otherwise. Recoba came off the bench and curled in a free kick,
albeit via deflection. Peruzzi then spilled a Batistuta free kick but managed to
recover as Chiesa charged in. Fiorentina should have been awarded a penalty for
a push on Batistuta by Cordoba. Repka fouled Vieri, Vieri got the briefest touch on
Repka as he rolled over, Repka went down claiming blue murder. Both players were
sent off. An uncharacteristic reaction by Vieri. Heinrich turned back a corner, the
Inter players ran out attempting offside but Georgatos was left behind, Adani stuck
out a boot, winning goal. Inter just keep throwing more money onto the fire.
They're in desperate need of a leader and someone to win balls in midfield.

Red Card(s) : Repka 83 (Fiorentina), Vieri 93 (Inter)
Attendance : 37,000

MILAN				2-2			ROMA
Bierhoff 38						Delvecchio 8
Jose Mari 68						Montella 57 

Milan's abysmal offside trap gifted Roma two goals. Montella raced onto Totti's
through pass, Rossi came out of his box and tried pathetically to put off Montella,
Montella shot, the ball bounced off the inside of the post and Delvecchio beat
Maldini to the loose ball to put Roma in front. Bierhoff wasted a great chance
from Boban's cross. Totti was denied by the fingertips of Rossi, Antonioli made a
great save from Shevchenko's snapshot volley. Bierhoff equalised with a great
header from Guly's cross. 

Cafu hit the post with a wickedly curling shot and Candela wasted a great chance
when he smoked De Ascentis and Helveg on the left flank, sent Sala crashing to
his arse with an outrageous dummy but stupidly centred the ball instead of
shooting. Montella broke through the offside trap, not sure who made the pass,
rounded Rossi and tapped into an empty net. Sala made a fabulous tackle to deny
Delvecchio a certain goal. Shevchenko was substituted for Jose Mari who scored
with his first touch, a brilliant back header from a perfect Boban cross. Jose Mari
then volleyed wide following great work by Bierhoff. Fantastic game but barring
a spectacular collapse by Lazio and Juve neither team will win the scudetto.

Attendance : 52,838