SERIE A ROUND 24
 
EASY DERBY VICTORY FOR INTER

A 1-2 scoreline flatters Milan as Inter comfortably see off their neighbours
in the Milan derby. Roma and Lazio bounce back from recent defeats and
Juve remain top thanks to victory over Bari and a customary dodgy penalty.

4 MARCH 2000

FIORENTINA			2-1			PIACENZA
Balbo 13							Di Napoli 88
Rui Costa 36

Balbo scored minutes after coming on as a sub, volleying in Di Livio's cross.
Batistuta went off early in the first half. He didn't appear to be injured.
Vierchowod attempted to cut out a pass but Rui Costa closed him down,
ran into the box and squeezed a shot inside the post. Piacenza were gifted
a penalty for 'handball'. Justice was done when Toldo saved Di Napoli's spot
kick but he wasn't denied a second time, brilliantly chipping over Toldo from
Statuto's excellent pass.


UDINESE			5-2			CAGLIARI
Margiotta 27						Oliveira 48
Jorgensen 47						Macellari 78
Fiore 75 (Pen), 82
Muzzi 76

O'Neill perfectly flicked on a long punt from Appiah and Margiotta headed past
Scarpi. Brilliant assist shame it was to the wrong team. Jorgensen ran onto
a slack ball from Ametrano, absolutely annihilated Diliso with an outrageous
dummy and put the ball in the bottom corner. 

Substitute Oliveira pulled one back by patiently working himself an opening
and shooting under Turci. Macellari equalised with a violent free kick.
Locatelli won a penalty, Fiore converted. Muzzi swapped passes with Sosa
before squeezed a shot into the corner and Fiore scored his second thanks to
a fine pass from Jorgensen.

Attendance : 25,000


5 MARCH 2000

JUVENTUS			2-0			BARI
Conte 42
Del Piero 53 (Pen)

Zidane flashed a volley wide from a free kick. Conte kept the ball from going
out on the touchline and passed to Zambrotta, his pass was back heeled by
Del Piero and Conte shot under Mancini. Guess who won the penalty? Diving
bastard. Del Piero headed a Zidane cross against the crossbar.

Attendance : 40,000


LECCE				0-1			LAZIO
							Nedved 37

Veron smashed a free kick off the crossbar. An embarrassing first touch from
Lucarelli wasted an open goal. Nedved's fantastic half volley won the game.
Marchegiani continued his excellent recent form with a tremendous save
from Marino's header.

Chimenti had a mixed game but managed to save well from another fiercely
struck effort from Nedved. Conceicao headed off the line. Veron struck the
post from a free kick. Lecce should have been awarded a penalty when Donkey
Couto grabbed hold of Viali as he challenged for a ball in the box. Stankovic got
Colonnello sent off with a dive.

Red Card(s) : Colonnello 90 (Lecce)
Attendance : 16,642


PARMA				3-0			REGGINA
Fuser 3
Crespo 35, 45 (Pen)

Fuser back heeled a Dino Baggio cross to Ortega, he returned the pass with
another back heel and Fuser curled his shot inside the post. Cannavaro
flicked on an Ortega corner and Crespo tapped in at the far post. Crespo
waited for an Ortega cross to drop, when Mesto dived in he flicked the ball
up and blasted a volley at goal but Belardi, on for the injured Taibi, made a
good save. Dino Baggio smashed a shot off the inside of a post. Cannavaro
won a penalty, the cameraman completely missed the incident. Crespo
converted.

In the second half Belardi continued his heroics, saving brilliantly with his feet
from Di Vaio, Fuser and Crespo who also missed an open goal when going for
his trademark back heel. A desperately needed victory for Parma which earns 
coach Malesani a stay of execution.

Attendance : 18,000


ROMA				1-0			TORINO
Delvecchio 66

Roma made hard work of a determined Torino team. They wasted  a string
of chances and were continually frustrated by Bucci's heroics in goal.
Delvecchio won the match when his shot took a wicked deflected off
Maltagliati.

Attendance : 53,430


VENEZIA				1-2			PERUGIA
Maniero 58						Amoruso 32
							Cappioli 73

Amoruso headed in a beautiful cross from Alenitchev. Venezia had two goals
disallowed. Volpi broke from midfield and picked out Maniero with a brilliantly
weighted pass, Maniero waited for Mazzantini to come out and placed the ball
in the corner. Cappioli won the match with an easy finish following another
N'Gotty classic. Why do teams keep playing him in defence? He sucks arse with
a passion.

Attendance : 8,248


VERONA				0-0			BOLOGNA

A good save by Frey from Kolyvanov. Cammarata headed over from a free
kick, wasted a glorious chance when he ran onto a fabulous pass from Adailton
and was denied by Orlandoni when once again sent clear by Adailton.

Attendance : 14,559


MILAN				1-2			INTER
Shevchenko 90 (Pen)					Zamorano 43
							Di Biagio 63

Blanc made an excellent interception from a brilliant De Ascentis pass
to deny Shevchenko a great chance. Maldini almost headed a Zanetti cross
past his own 'keeper. Serginho burst into the box but his first touch took
the ball too far and he then pathetically threw himself to the floor.
De Ascentis made an excellent tackle as Zamorano was about the pull the
trigger from Recoba's centre. Zamorano was presented with a gift as the Milan
defence stood still waiting for offside he ran through to score.

Zamorano almost added a second at the start of the second half but Abbiati
came to the rescue with a brilliant save. Seedorf ran from the half way line
and played the ball off to Recoba who hammered a shot against the post.
Seedorf was involved in Inter's second, he left De Ascentis for dead with a
quick change of feet before passing to Zamorano who touched the ball onto
Di Biagio and he blasted the ball past Abbiati. Boban flashed a half volley
wide, as close as Milan got all match from open play. Baggio should have
added a third for Inter following a great run by Muta but Abbiati brilliantly
saved his first effort and he made a mess of the rebound. Ambrosini felt
Simic breath on his neck so he took a dive, Shevchenko converted the penalty.

A brilliant performance by Inter. Blanc was exceptional in a defence that
was rarely troubled by a Milan team that, like last week, lacked ideas.
Recoba was once against outstanding.

Attendance : 81,000