The first leg of the Coppa Italia round 3 matches were played this weekend.
Atalanta, currently bottom of Serie A, provided the shock result by overcoming leaders Juventus. Other than Pavel Nedved, Juventus fielded a reserve team but they would still have expected to overcome a team still seeking their first league win this season.
Twenty-year-old Andrea Lazzari scored both goals for the hosts.
The most thrilling game of the round was undoubtedly at Lecce where Udinese overcame a three-nil deficit to take a 5-4 lead into the second leg. Lecce currently have the dubious honour of being both Seria A’s top goalscorers and also boasting the worst defensive record. The game certainly reflected this statistic.
Felipe, Di Michele and Di Natale cancelled out early Lecce goals from Ledesma, Dalla Bona, and Bojinov. Although Bojinov restored Lecce’s lead, late strikes from Di Michele and Di Natale gave Udinese the win.
The competition’s only remaining non-Serie A outfit, Torino, went down 2-0 at home to Sampdoria. Doni and Kutozov were the scorers for Sampdoria who had previously gone three weeks without scoring in any competition.
Former and current Chelsea players influenced three other results.
Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola came off the substitutes bench to score the winner for Cagliari at home to Lazio. Antonio Langella had scored the opener for the hosts but Antonio Fillipini levelled for the Roman team after an hour. Zola then clinched the first leg victory from the penalty spot.
Hernan Crespo, currently on loan to Milan from the London team, was in the starting line up for the rested Andriy Shevchenko against mid table Palermo. Crespo duly scored his first goal for the ‘Rossonero’ in the 53rd minute and Clarence Seedorf scored a second for the visitors 16 minutes later. Palermo gave themselves hope for the second leg when Toni pulled one back with 11 minutes remaining.
And another Chelsea old-boy, Tore Andre Flo, opened the scoring for Siena against Roma in the Olympic Stadium. Roma captain Totti equalized for the hosts but Flo scored the winner with just four minutes remaining.
At the Giuseppa Meazza, Internazionale overcame Bologna 3-1. It was Inter’s first victory in eight matches having drawn their previous seven. The away side took the lead through Belluci after 22 minutes but goals from Vieri, Recoba and Cruz, in for the rested Adriano, gave Inter the win.
In the final tie of the round Fiorentina beat Serie A strugglers Parma 2-0 with goals either side of half time from former Real Madrid player Javier Portillo and the Chilean midfielder Jaime Andres Valdes.
