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Juventus beat Roma, and come closer to second place
Posted - 16th February 2008
Italy's leading sports paper La Gazzetta dello Sport pointed out, sagely, that nearly all the teams competing in the next round of the Champions League (to be played next week) lost games this weekend. Real Madrid (who AS Roma play on Tuesday night), Arsenal, and Liverpool all lost, while Milan were held to a draw by Parma (0-0). Only Inter managed to get a victory, and that was against 13th placed Livorno (who did manage to hold Milan to a 1-1 draw during the week). All this will be of scant consolation to Roma, who, whilst still holding on to second place in the Serie A league table are in desperate need of some momentum if they're to avoid slipping to third, or even fourth place.
Juventus, meanwhile, are under pressure to perform, given that they don't have the luxury of the Champions excuse. And perform they did, this evening, with a 1-0 victory over Roma. The only goal of the night was from a free kick, in the final moments of the first half, taken by Alessandro Del Piero - his 230th for the Turin club. The sides were evenly matched throughout, and Juventus showed class in achieving the breakthrough, and more importantly holding on to it.
One of the best scoring opportunities for Roma came in the form of a near own-goal, when Juventus defender Nicola Legrottaglie attempting to ward off a shot by Totti slid the ball past Gigi Buffon, only to be saved by the post. Legrottaglie was all over the news this week as he publicly professed his faith in God - it's a faith that was obviously repaid, allowing for a trajectory change to save the day.
And so, with Inter +11 points in the lead at the top of the table, the excitement for the rest of the season is likely to be focussed on the battle for 2nd and fourth place respectively.
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