Juve Smell Scudetto
03/12/2000. Juve laid a severe claim towards their 26th league title as they grabbed a win at Piacenza thanks to a pair of goals by Filippo Inzaghi. Following yesterday's equalizer between Lazio and Inter, Juve needed a three point effort at Piacenza in order to extend their lead to six points over Lazio and nine over Inter.
However when the game kicked off Juve still appeared under shock from Thursday's UEFA Cup elimination at the hands of Celta as possession was totally in the hands of Piacenza, who even hit a crossbar with Ruggiero Rizzitelli in the 44th minute. However the "Bianconeri" were a different team in the second half, led by Alex Del Piero, who provided Inzaghi with the two assists that the Juve forward was then able to side-foot home from close range.
In the San Siro Stadium, Milan and Verona battled to a 3-3 thriller, in what was indisputably the most exciting game of this Serie A Sunday. By the end of the first forty five minutes Alberto Zaccheroni's boys appeared to have the game sealed off as a spectacular display of soccer gave them the two goal lead courtesy of an Albertini free kick and a Shevchenko strike. However the Rossoneri's Argentine international Jose Antonio Chamot was sent off early in the second half, an event that marked a dramatic twist in the game's history.
Just one minute after this episode Verona got back into the match through former Parma defender Apolloni, and then equalized a few minutes later thanks to their Danish defender Larsen. The roller coaster ride continued in the 60th minute as Shevchenko sent home a penalty kick, and then finally ended on the stroke of the final whistle with Cammarata's winning header that gave the brave visiting side the deserved sharing of spoils.
In Cagliari, Roma confirmed to be in their worst moment of the season as Patrick Mboma's 44th minute header clinched the three points for the home side. Fabio Capello's team displayed their worst soccer of this campaign as they were unable to get more than one serious attempt on goal throughout the entire ninety minutes.
Even Fiorentina were defeated on the road, but the point-less effort arrived mainly due to Torino's keeper Bucci who emulated the performance Peruzzi had on Saturday against Lazio. The only goal of the game arrived midway through the first half when Marco Ferrante drove Silenzi's sweet invitation inside the Fiorentina net. In other games, Udinese and Reggina played to a scoreless draw, while a late goal by Cappioli allowed Perugia to equalize with Lecce, who actually held a two goal lead with five minutes left to play.
