JUVE CLOSE IN

A typical dodgy penalty gives Juve victory over Fiorentina as they close in
on the title. Inter bounce back from successive defeats to see off Bari.
Roma's Champions League prospects take another blow as they fail to win at
home to Parma. Milan end a run of poor results with victory away to Reggina.

22 APRIL 2000

BOLOGNA			2-1			PERUGIA
Signori 14						Amoruso 20
K Andersson 15

Andersson and Signori combined to give Bologna the lead, Andersson with the
pass, Signori with the finish. Andersson put Bologna further in front before
Amoruso pulled one back with a great low strike from Rapajc's perfectly
waited pass. Bologna hung on as Perugia wasted several chances to tie.

Attendance : 23,000


INTER				3-0			BARI
Cauet 24
Blanc 35
Baggio 50

Cauet inadvertently gave his team the lead when he deflected Zanetti's
shot past Mancini. Spinesi wasted a great chance to equalise, blazing over
the bar after being gifted an opening from Cordoba's slack header.  Blanc
extended Inter's lead with a beautifully placed header from Recoba's free
kick and Baggio punished an incredible hospital pass with a superb half
volley. More bad defending went unpunished, Peruzzi coming to the rescue
as Blanc gifted Enninaya (my dictionary hilariously suggested Enemata when
I ran a spell check!) a run on goal. Baggio was later substituted, it
could well have been his last goal in Serie A.

Attendance : 50,000


JUVENTUS			1-0			FIORENTINA
Del Piero 47 (Pen)

Rui Costa should have given Fiorentina the lead, he swapped passes with
Batistuta, ran through the Juve defence, brilliantly skipped a tackle in the
box, went past Van der Sar but shot wide. Juve's only real chance of the
first half fell to Kovacevic, from Pessotto's cross, but he headed straight
at Toldo. Rui Costa picked out Batistuta with a glorious 50yd pass, he
chipped Van der Sar but Ferrara headed the ball to safety. Pierini stupidly
stuck out a leg inside the box and Zambrotta couldn't resist, doing a
cowardly dive (possibly outside the box) Inzaghi would have been proud of.
Del Piero converted with ease. Kovacevic wasted a great chance in the second
half, shooting straight at Toldo from Inzaghi's pass. Heinrich tried to win
a penalty but he doesn't play for Juve so why bother?

Attendance : 45,000


LECCE				2-1			CAGLIARI
Bonomi 13, 51						Corradi 89

Bonomi blasted Lecce into the lead with a fine strike from outside the box
and grabbed his second with a free kick. A hospital pass gifted Corradi a
consolation goal. 

Attendance : 19,702


PIACENZA			0-2			LAZIO
							Simeone 59
							Veron 68

Inzaghi managed to strike the post when unmarked inches in front of goal
and missed another 100% chance minutes later. Roma made a phenomenal
reaction save as Nedved's shot took a wicked deflection off a defender.
Simeone finally gave Lazio the lead with a powerful header from Mihajlovic's
corner. Veron whacked in a free kick. Marchegiani made an excellent save from
Buso's diving header.

Attendance : 8,000


REGGINA			1-2			MILAN
Pirlo 25							Vargas 6 (og)
							Shevchenko 14

Baronio, expected to be at the San Siro next season, almost put one over on
his new club when he cracked a shot off the inside of the post. Milan had
former 'keeper Taibi to thank for the points, he punched Jose Mari's header
against his own defender and it bounced over the line and when attempting
to save Jose Mari's shot he kicked the ball straight to an unmarked
Shevchenko. Pirlo scored from a free kick having been brought down by
Costacurta, Abbiati's positioning left a lot to be desired.

Cozza headed inches wide from Baronio's free kick. Ambrosini breezed past
two defenders before centring for Leonardo but he couldn't get anything on
the cross and more good work from Ambrosini went un-rewarded when Shevchenko
worked himself an opening before shooting over the bar.

Attendance : 26,000


ROMA				0-0			PARMA

Fuser missed a sitter, chipping the ball wide with Antonioli off his line and
he pulled a muscle in the process. Totti continued his treacherous recent
habit of ignoring his team-mates and trying to score by himself and he wasted
a great chance from Montella's pass. Assuncao struck the outside of the
post from a free kick. Delvecchio shot straight at Buffon after destroying
Cannavaro with a Cruijff turn and then teed up Montella but Totti got in his
way. Totti was booked for fouling Thuram. Either he's trying too hard or
deliberately playing like a twat to get a transfer out of Rome.

Attendance : 58,006


UDINESE			0-0			TORINO

Surprisingly Torino had the better of this match given Udinese have scored 15
goals in their last 4 home games.

Attendance : 19,000


VENEZIA				2-2			VERONA
Budan 11						Adailton 80
Ganz 78							Salvetti 85

Budan headed in Volpi's corner. Brocchi went close with an overhead kick. 
Frey made an excellent save from Budan. Ganz scored a tap in following 
a slalom run by Berg. Adailton began the comeback with a superb free kick
and Salvetti equalised from Brocchi's superb pass.

Attendance : 9,965