SERIE A ONLINE - Italian Football - Roma

Gameweek 24 Review

nospam@example.com (Seria A Online) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 17:48:37 +0000

Nicolas Andre Burdisso's header from an inspired Zlatan Ibrahimovic cross made Inter the most successful European League side of all time with 16 consecutive victories. The all-time European record for 15 consecutive League wins belonged to Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, but the Nerazzurri are seemingly unstoppable at the moment.

Nicola Pozzi's early goal proved enough as incredible Empoli consolidate fourth place, but leave Roma 14 points adrift of leaders Inter.

Ronaldo bagged a brace in his first Milan start, but it took a heart-stopping finale to secure the points in this seven-goal thriller! Goran Pandev bagged a brace as Torino crashed to their fifth defeat on the trot against Lazio, 2-0. Substitute Luca Toni left it late to secure a precious away victory, as Catania ended the game in 10 men.

Roma V Lyon, Seven from World Cup Final

nospam@example.com (Seria A Online) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 17:38:57 +0000

Seven players from last year's World Cup final will play in Wednesday's Champions League match between AS Roma and Lyon.

Lyon midfielder Juninho said Roma captain Francesco Totti will pose the biggest threat to his team in the first leg of the second round. "I have a lot of admiration for him,'' Juninho said. "(Totti) is the one who dictates the rhythm of his team. We'll need to be wary.''

Totti is one of three Roma players who played in Italy's World Cup victory over France. Simone Perrotta and Daniele De Rossi are the others. Eric Abidal, Florent Malouda, Gregory Coupet and Sidney Govou were on France's roster. Full Article

Moratti still worried about Roma

nospam@example.com (Seria A Online) — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 21:27:06 +0000

Inter owner Massimo Moratti has insisted that Roma are good enough to remain in the hunt for the Scudetto.

The Nerazzurri currently lead Serie A by 11 points and have dropped just six points all season as they bid to win their first Scudetto on the pitch since 1989. Most fans and pundits can't see beyond them for the title, yet Moratti believes that there is every chance that Roma could come back to steal the title. "We are doing very well and I am pleased," he said. "However, the season is far from over. Roma are keeping up the pace and continuing to win, so the situation hasn't changed. We must always be cautious and try our hardest to obtain the best result in every match."

Gameweek 23 Review

nospam@example.com (Seria A Online) — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 21:20:30 +0000

Inter were not phased by the absence of fans in Verona, securing their record 15th consecutive Serie A victory.The Nerazzurri's bid to continue their 14-match winning streak was played in an empty Stadio Bentegodi due to enhanced security restrictions.

Francesco Totti scored his 139th Serie A goal as Roma comfortably swept Parma aside. 3-0 the result.

Empoli have beaten Palermo in both their meetings this season and a Sergio Almiron goal proved enough in Sicily. The spoils were shared in a disappointing match between Atalanta e Lazio, which may well have been affected by the lack of a crowd.

Ronaldo made his Rossoneri debut and Gennaro Gattuso scored a rare goal as Milan continued their revival. Emergency work on San Siro saw 28 turnstiles installed overnight, bringing the stadium up to the standard where at least the 37,000 season ticket holders could be allowed in despite the drastic new security measures to view Ronaldo's debut. Milan were closing in on a Champions League spot and took on a Livorno side without a win in nine.

Milan v Roma 1-2

nospam@example.com (Seria A Online) — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 19:18:13 +0000

Francesco Totti's splendid brace has given Roma their first 2-1 win at San Siro in 20 years for Milan's fourth defeat in five games.

The Rossoneri were without Massimo Ambrosini, Giuseppe Favalli, Kakha Kaladze and Gennaro Gattuso - out injured.

An Alessandro Nesta defensive error failed to effectively clear Christian Panucci's cross, so Taddei put it back into the centre for a spectacular Francesco Totti volley from six yards and jsut after 6 minutes.

A corner kick was cleared out as far as Brocchi, who unleashed a fearsome effort from 25 metres that beat Doni at the near post. 1-1 at the start of the second half.

It was chaotic end to end stuff in the closing stages and Roma were once again more clinical in front of goal. A fine team move, inspired by Aquilani's left-foot rabona - where you cross your legs and hit the ball with the back foot - was put into the centre by Mancini for Totti's header at the back post.

Roma's Scudetto hopes are still alive, and their last League win at San Siro was in 1987.

Milan: Dida; Simic, Nesta, Maldini, Jankulovski; Brocchi, Pirlo, Seedorf; Kakà; Ricardo Oliveira (Borriello 77), Gilardino (Inzaghi 64)

Roma: Doni; Panucci, Mexes (Ferrari 77), Chivu, Tonetto; De Rossi, Pizarro; Taddei, Perrotta (Aquilani 61), Mancini (Cassetti 87); Totti

Ref: Messina

Champion's League Review

nospam@example.com (Seria A Online) — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:24:00 +0000

Francesco Totti celebrated his 30th birthday with a goal against Valencia, but Roma still lost 2-1 at the Mestalla. The Giallorossi got off to a great start in the Champions League, hammering Shakhtar Donetsk 4-0, but missed the injured Rodrigo Taddei, Amantino Mancini and Mirko Vucinic for this trip to Spain.

Luciano Spalletti was impressed with Roma’s performance in Valencia and insists they’re still in the running for qualification. “This was a wasted opportunity because I didn’t see Valencia play any better than we did and we failed to take our chances,” he said after the 2-1 defeat.

Inter's Champions League hopes are in tatters after Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Fabio Grosso were sent off in a 2-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich.

“I think the game changed after we went down to 10 men. We had planned to take no risks in the first half and then push after the break, but unfortunately there was this dismissal and a mistake on the opening goal,” Mancini said of the 2-0 home loss.

Kaka, Alberto Gilardino and Clarence Seedorf had the best chances, but Milan were held to their second consecutive goalless draw - held by French side Lille. Following their 0-0 at Livorno on Saturday, they again fail to hit the back of the net.

"We had scored a goal and it looked valid to me,” Ancelotti said after Milan’s 0-0 draw in France - he was angry that a Clarence Seedorf goal was incorrectly disallowed.

Gameweek 4 Review

nospam@example.com (Seria A Online) — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:19:00 +0000

Roma - and Vincenzo Montella - are back on track, but it's crisis time for Parma. The Giallorossi win 4-0 away while Inter leaped to the top of the Serie A table, but showed more worrying signs as they nearly threw away a 4-0 lead in the final minutes!

Milan's 100 per cent record was ended at the Stadio Picchi, where Livorno held out for a 0-0 draw and rattled the crossbar with Stefano Morrone. It's their first Serie A draw since March 12 and Palermo's time at the top of the Serie A table was concluded by this unlucky defeat at the Castellani, but Franco Brienza must shoulder some of the blame after missing a penalty. 2-0 to Empoli.

Elsewhere Vincenzo Iaquinta's goal proved enough to sink Fiorentina at the Stadio Friuli and Sebastiano Siviglia scored against his former Atalanta teammates for Lazio's second straight win.

Roma v Inter 0-1

nospam@example.com (Seria A Online) — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 19:30:50 +0000

Hernan Crespo secured a potentially decisive away win in the Scudetto race at Roma's Stadio Olimpico

Roma strung together an excellent team move made up of one-touch football that eventually had Amantino Mancini chip the goalkeeper, but the finish was cleared off the line by Marco Materazzi. The Brazilian suffered a thigh injury during that move and made way for Montella.

Inter took the lead in this exciting game on the stroke of half-time. Crespo ran past Mexes down the left flank and his fierce shot ricocheted in off the inside of Doni's legs. Lucky.

In the second half Inter had a dubious penalty awarded but Doni managed to keep it out. Viera sent off for dissent and that is not a surprise.

Continue reading "Roma v Inter 0-1"

Siena - Roma 1-3

nospam@example.com (Seria A Online) — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 22:06:40 +0000

Roma are making a definite play for the Scudetto, breaking away at the top ahead of Wednesday's showdown with Inter.

The Giallorossi had a very strong record in Tuscany, winning two of their visits here and drawing the other 0-0, always keeping a clean sheet with a total of six goals scored.

There was controversy on 28 minutes when Siena were left in 10 men. Ezio Brevi jumped with his arms out and struck Daniele De Rossi, earning a red card, but it seemed to be more clumsy than a vicious tackle.

Siena couldn't clear the ball effectively and Perrotta rolled back for Taddei's deflected effort, taking it past Manninger's fingertips. 1-0. Pizarro end Okaka scored the other 2.
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Great Start for Roma

nospam@example.com (Seria A Online) — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 11:05:17 +0000

Roma made a splendid start to their Champions League campaign by thrashing Shakhtar Donetsk 4-0, including a Francesco Totti gem. They now lead Group D on goal difference, as Valencia won 4-2 away to Olympiakos.

The Giallorossi entered the Champions League via Calciopoli and began their campaign on home turf against Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk.

The first half ended 0-0 but Roma were more confident in this second half and made it 2-0 in spectacular fashion. Tonetto's cross missed Totti, but Taddei was ready to control with his left foot and fire under the crossbar with his right from close range.

The lively Tonetto earned a corner kick and Totti made another step on the road to recovery with a splendid curling finish from just inside the area that slammed into the far top corner before the goalkeeper had time to move.

Shakhtar fell to pieces and the Giallorossi continued their rout with a powerful De Rossi header on substitute Pizarro's cross.
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Roma v Livorno 2-0

nospam@example.com (Seria A Online) — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 21:30:19 +0000

Roma began with a 2-0 win over Livorno, but Francesco Totti missed a penalty and Amantino Mancini picked up an injury.

A moment of magic from Daniele De Rossi broke the deadlock in the last minute of the first half. He gathered from Max Tonetto, cut in and unleashed a missile into the far corner from the edge of the area with his trademark right-foot strike.

Rodrigo Taddei replaced David Pizarro and within 30 seconds he had contributed to Roma's second goal. The Brazilian's shot from a tight angle was parried into the path of Mancini for the simplest of touches.

Continue reading "Roma v Livorno 2-0"

Roma close to Marcelo

nospam@example.com (Seria A Online) — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 13:56:56 +0000

Fluminense are open to a deal with Roma over teenage sensation Marcelo.

It's reported in Brazil that Fluminense officials have met with an Italian representative at White Hart Lane over the weekend. The 18 year-old wing-back has been likened to Roberto Carlos, but Flu are reluctant to sell over fears of a major supporter backlash.

Instead, it's reported that Roma are in talks with the Brazilians about paying £1.5 million now for first option on Marcelo before completing the deal in January with another payment of £2.5 million.

Roma struck a similar deal to bring Brazilian winger Amantino Mancini to Italy.

tribalfootball.com

Defendi a Roma Defender

nospam@example.com (Seria A Online) — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 20:57:51 +0000

Roma have signed Tottenham Hotspur defender Rodrigo Defendi just hours after their deal for Tottenham Hotspur full-back Lee Young-Pyo fell through.

The 20-year-old Brazilian agreed a move to the Stadio Olimpico, initially for a season's loan but with an option for Roma to buy him for a nominal fee.

TOTTI: do not expect LO SCUDETTO

nospam@example.com (Seria A Online) — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 18:47:05 +0000

Francesco Totti has issued the Roma fans with a stark warning ahead of the new campaign. “Don’t expect the Scudetto,” he said.

Although some are tipping the Giallorossi as possible League winners, the captain is convinced that both Milan sides are stronger than his beloved outfit.

“I don’t want to take anybody for a ride,” he stated on Friday. “Inter and Milan have more players than us. We can only work hard to reduce the gap between us and them.”

Nevertheless, Totti confirmed that he was satisfied with the clubs market moves following the captures of David Pizarro and Mirko Vucinic.

Totti has been omitted from the Italian squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Lithuania and France, but says he will return after snubbing international retirement.