[IT] Serie A 2004/05 (13 Viewers)
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Serie A table:
points/goal average
1 Juventus 19 13
2 Lecce 14 9
3 Milan 14 5
4 Chievo 13 3
5 Inter 11 3
6 Messina 11 1
7 Cagliari 10 0
- Palermo 10 0
9 Roma 9 0
10 Bologna 9 -1
- Sampdoria 9 -1
12 Brescia 9 -5
13 Lazio 8 -1
14 Fiorentina 7 -2
- Reggina 7 -2
16 Udinese 6 0
17 Parma 6 -5
18 Livorno 5 -5
19 Siena 5 -8
20 Atalanta 4 -4
Serie A table:
points/goal average
1 Juventus 19 13
2 Lecce 14 9
3 Milan 14 5
4 Chievo 13 3
5 Inter 11 3
6 Messina 11 1
7 Cagliari 10 0
- Palermo 10 0
9 Roma 9 0
10 Bologna 9 -1
- Sampdoria 9 -1
12 Brescia 9 -5
13 Lazio 8 -1
14 Fiorentina 7 -2
- Reggina 7 -2
16 Udinese 6 0
17 Parma 6 -5
18 Livorno 5 -5
19 Siena 5 -8
20 Atalanta 4 -4
NOT BAD??
i would call this nearly perfect!
Juventus stretch out a five-point lead after Milan and Inter stall each other's progress in a hard-fought local derby.
This was Inter's best chance in several years to win the Derby della Madonnina, as they were fresh from a 5-1 demolition of Valencia midweek. Milan had also beaten Barcelona in the Champions' League, but Jaap Stam was out with an ankle injury, so Paolo Maldini moved back into the centre and Giuseppe Pancaro came in. Hernan Crespo was surprisingly given the nod to partner Andriy Shevchenko against his old club.
Roberto Mancini said he'd rather lose that send his team out looking for a draw in his first Milan derby, so Javier Zanetti was given the right-back role with Esteban Cambiasso protecting the defence in a rhombus midfield. This was the same line-up that started that incredible second half in Valencia.
The San Siro was completely sold out for over 79,000 fans, supporting Paolo Maldini's claim this week that "Milan is the Capital of European football."
The Rossoneri had a very aggressive start, but Inter had the first chance after three minutes when Emre Belozoglu threaded through for Christian Vieri and his shot was smothered by Dida.
Shevchenko ran down the right and his wayward angled drive nearly turned into an assist for Crespo, but the Argentine just failed to make contact as he slid in.
Moments later Vieri chested down a long Giuseppe Favalli ball forward, but his shot was inches wide of the near post. Alberto Fontana then got down well to intercept Crespo's cutback for Shevchenko.
Marcos Cafu's cross was palmed out for a corner with some difficulty as Crespo prepared to pounce, then Kaka shook the side-netting with one of his trademark runs.
Kaka was often dangerous and skipped past Marco Materazzi and Esteban Cambiasso, so Ivan Cordoba brought him down just outside the box, but Andrea Pirlo's free kick was deflected.
There was panic in both defences in the space of 30 seconds. First Alessandro Nesta's desperate challenge stopped an Adriano counter-attack, then Paolo Maldini immediately set Shevchenko running, forcing Fontana into two rushed lunges at the ball to clear before the Ukrainian and then Crespo could pounce.
The home side began to control the tempo as the first half wore on, while Inter seemed to rely more on their pace in counter-attacks. Cafu sprung the offside trap on Pirlo's pass, but his angled drive was easily controlled by Fontana.
Moments later Shevchenko wrestled with Favalli to get on the end of a searching pass, but the defender and Fontana were able to smother the danger.
Adriano was relatively quiet in the first half, but in stoppages he intelligently flicked the ball over Nesta and Gattuso at the byline, leaving both stranded only to hit the side-netting with his angled drive.
At the dawn of the second half Gattuso chased Adriano to close down one of the Brazilian's counter-attacks, then Cafu's fine work set Kaka running and Marco Materazzi was booked for bringing him down.
Soon after, Pancaro's shot was nearly tapped in by both Kaka and Shevchenko, but Favalli dived in to disturb the Ukrainian.
At the other end Nesta struggled to prevent Adriano getting his shot in after a stunning flick from Emre, who reached his leg back over his head in a scorpion-like movement.
The game sprung to life again and Fontana timed his exit perfectly to slide on to Crespo's feet as he prepared to tap in Kaka's fine pass.
A long-range Dejan Stankovic effort stung Dida's palms, then Nesta put in a crucial tackle from behind to pluck the ball off Adriano's feet during one of his trademark powerful runs down the left.
There was a fantastic chance for Inter on 67 minutes, as Veron's free kick was only parried by Dida and Nesta again intervened with a desperate challenge to stop Vieri tapping in from six yards.
Milan had their own great opportunity on 72 minutes when Cafu's cross found the head of Shevchenko, but it was just wide of the far post.
Clarence Seedorf was struggling throughout the second half with a thigh problem and made way for Massimo Ambrosini, then Jon Dahl Tomasson took over from Crespo.
Ambrosini shoulder-charged Emre off the ball and handed Adriano a free kick 31 metres from the goal-line, but this time the Brazilian drilled it wide.
Kaka overhit his pass for Tomasson, then Vieri turned a header well wide of the target from Favalli's cross.
Obafemi Martins has been out of action for several weeks with a calf injury and took over from Vieri in the closing 15 minutes, while Andy van der Meyde replaced Emre.
Shevchenko's glancing header was well held by the dependable Fontana, but Favalli was booked for a body-check on Kaka after he had skipped past both Materazzi and Javier Zanetti.
Paolo Maldini pushed forward a little more and Kaka nodded his cross wide of the target, but Massimo Ambrosini had a fantastic chance to score soon after. Another Cafu cross found the midfielder unmarked at the back post, but he elected to head it into the ground and it bounced over the bar.
Kaka gathered from Pirlo and turned quickly, but drilled his shot wide, as the defences won in this intense encounter.
