Newz Forum: SOCCER: Italian Serie A weekend results 13/03/06

Juventus seem destined to retain the Scudetto after AC Milan could only claim a goalless draw in Serie A's top-of-the-table clash on Sunday. The match was seen by an estimated worldwide audience of two billion but failed to provide an enticing advertisement for the Italian game as neither side went close to breaking the deadlock.

Even a red card for Gennaro Gattuso 20 minutes from time didn't breath life into Juve, who were content to keep their nearest challengers as far away from their goal as possible. Juve therefore remain 10 points clear at the Serie A summit with only nine games remaining for Milan to close the gap.

The momentum from Roma's record-breaking 11-game winning streak in Serie A is well and truly over as the Giallorossi followed up last week's draw at home with Internazionale and their midweek UEFA Cup defeat to Middlesbrough with a 3-2 loss at Ascoli. Goals from Fabio Quagliarella, Massimo Paci and Igor Budan gave the hosts a 3-0 lead at half-time. Rodrigo Taddei and a Gianluca Comotto own goal gave Roma hope but they had Cristian Chivu sent off late on, ensuring they failed to leapfrog Fiorentina back into fourth place.

Fiorentina are still a point clear of Roma and with a game in hand after their game at Cagliari was stopped 30 minutes into the contest due to high winds.

Paolo Di Canio scored one goal and set up another for Tommaso Rocchi in a near-empty Stadio Olimpico as Lazio beat Reggina 3-1. Only 5,000 fans watched inside the stadium to protest against Lazio club president Claudio Lotito's decision not to sell shares to a pharmaceutical company. Even with much of the 82,000-seat stadium empty, the Biancoceleste boosted their UEFA Cup hopes. Lazio forward Goran Pandev killed the game off with Lazio's third in the 68th minute while Reggina striker Nicola Amoruso's header a minute later provided the only cheer for the visitors.

Lazio are now seventh in the standings after Chievo's 2-1 defeat at Empoli. Empoli got second-half strikes from Christian Rigano and Francesco Tavano, while Matteo Brighi gave Chievo a lifeline with eight minutes to go. David Di Michele opened the scoring against his former club Udinese and then Giovanni Tedesco added the second as Palermo won 2-0 over the visitors from Friuli.

Messina prevailed 2-1 in their relegation tussle with Lecce, and Parma boosted their survival hopes with a 2-1 win over Livorno.

Internazionale will be in the right frame of mind for this week's Champions League clash against Ajax after claiming a 1-0 victory over Sampdoria on Saturday. In a season when they have failed to mount a serious challenge to Juventus in the race for the Scudetto, Inter still have Europe and they will be in buoyant mood for the Dutch giants thanks to Adriano's strike late in the first half which secured a 1-0 win. The hosts had chances to kill the game off in the second half but instead gave their fans an anxious wait before securing the points. The Nerazzurri still trail second-placed AC Milan by a point in the Serie A table while Samp are ninth and looking as if they will have to give European football a miss next season.

In Saturday's other game, Erjon Bogdani scored a late winner to give Siena a deserved 1-0 win on Saturday and dent Treviso's slim survival hopes. The Albanian's 87th-minute goal ensured the home side got the reward for their dominance and made amends for Enrico Chiesa's first-half penalty miss. The result moves Siena a step closer to securing their Serie A status, but bottom-placed Treviso are facing relegation after failing to close the 12-point gap that separates them from safety. The Veneto outfit have now gone 13 games without a win and are struggling to find the net, after scoring just 18 times in 29 games this season. And with only nine games left to play, the odds are stacked against caretaker coaches Diego Bertoluzzi and Albino Pillon and their side.

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