Scorers: Crespo 63 (M), Pirlo pen 71 (M)

Bruno Conti's Roma debut is ruined by his old Giallorossi teammate Carlo Ancelotti as Milan notch up their eighth consecutive Serie A win.

Conti made his Serie A debut as a Coach against his old friend and former Giallorossi teammate Carlo Ancelotti, but this was also a game neither could afford to lose. Milan needed three points to stay top of the table alongside Juventus, while Roma were losing sight of the European spots following their third consecutive defeat.

Luigi Del Neri resigned on Monday and Conti was expected to leave Antonio Cassano on the bench in favour of Amantino Mancini, but he went for an attacking line-up with Francesco Totti behind the front two rather than as part of a trident attack. Philippe Mexes, Traianos Dellas and Daniele De Rossi were suspended, while both goalkeepers were injured. Conti's actual debut was Wednesday's 1-0 loss at Fiorentina, but the Giallorossi still qualified for the Coppa Italia semi-finals on penalties.

Milan had to do without the injured Alessandro Nesta and Andriy Shevchenko, while Serginho was on the bench despite suffering from flu. The 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Udinese in the Coppa Italia midweek ended a run of nine consecutive victories in all competitions, but they were still looking for an eight Serie A win on the trot.

Roma had a strong start with Montella firing two good chances wide of the target, then Totti failed to complete a fine passing move with the Aeroplanino and there were timid penalty appeals for a shirt-tug on the captain.

Montella skipped past defenders after 11 minutes and his relatively weak effort was gathered by Dida.

But it was Milan who went closest soon after, as Kaka redirected Andrea Pirlo's free kick and forced Gianluca Curci into a tough reaction save at the near post. It was only the 19-year-old goalkeeper's second Serie A appearance.

Francesco Totti curled a free kick over the bar and Jaap Stam performed a crucial intervention to prevent Cassano's cross reaching Montella.

Moments later, Jon Dahl Tomasson's first touch let him down on a Clarence Seedorf floated pass and Curci was able to smother the ball.

Kaka also failed to get a firm touch on Crespo's pass and Cristian Chivu was able to dive in for a corner kick. The Brazilian also had a long-range shot comfortably blocked by Curci.

Dida intercepted some marvellous duetting between Cassano and Totti, while the captain curled a low free kick round the defensive wall and the goalkeeper did well not to be taken by surprise.

Milan's best chance of the game so far arrived two minutes into the second half, as Crespo held off his marker to latch on to Seedorf's pass and pulled the trigger, but Curci bravely stayed on his feet and was able to charge down the shot with his legs.

Cafu was booked for a two-footed tackle on Leandro Cufre and the Argentine was stretchered off with a large hole in his shin, making way for teenager Scurto. Cafu was perhaps fortunate to remain on the pitch, as it was an extremely dangerous challenge.

Gennaro Gattuso unleashed a powerful strike from 25 metres that went a few inches over the crossbar as Milan began to take more of an initiative in this second half.

On the hour mark Roma had a fantastic scoring opportunity, but Kakha Kaladze timed his tackle perfectly to stop Montella in the area, then Dida smothered Totti's follow-up.

There were timid penalty appeals for Matteo Ferrari's challenge on Tomasson soon after.

Amantino Mancini was expected to start in place of Cassano, but when the Brazilian finally did come on it was for Montella and Roma switched to a 4-4-2 system.

The deadlock was eventually broken on 63 minutes. Kaladze found space down the left and curled in a cross for Hernan Crespo's floating header into the far corner of the net.

Tomasson was rightly booked for a frankly embarrassing dive in the area when he had lost his moment to put in a cross for Crespo.

Moments later Curci showed he will hang on to this Roma starting spot with another splendid save, beating away Kaka's volley from a corner kick and then capturing Seedorf's second attempt.

There was some fine play when Kaladze and Kaka exchanged passes around the six-yard box and the Brazilian fired just wide.

Seedorf charged into the box and floated in a cross for Crespo, whose header was kept out of the net by Christian Panucci's arm. The former Milan defender was sent off and Andrea Pirlo stepped up to convert the penalty.

Pippo Inzaghi replaced Crespo for the final 17 minutes, while Gattuso had another long-range effort blocked by Curci. Massimo Ambrosini took over from Tomasson, switching Seedorf to a Trequartista role alongside Kaka.

Kaka had another shot blocked by Curci and Stam's wayward defensive header almost led to an own goal.

Totti was clearly frustrated at the impending defeat and was shown a second yellow card for a pointless foul on Ambrosini in midfield.

Milan cruised towards their victory and matched the club record with their 11th away win of the season.

Roma: Curci; Panucci, Chivu, Ferrari, Cufrè (Scurto 51); Aquilani, Perrotta, Dacourt; Totti; Cassano, Montella (Mancini 62)

Milan: Dida; Cafu, Maldini, Stam, Kaladze (Costacurta 90); Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf; Kaka; Crespo (Inzaghi 73), Tomasson (Ambrosini 81)

Ref: Paparesta

Sent off: Panucci 70 (R), Totti 90 (R)
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Scorers: Zola 23 (C), Esposito 40 (C), Suazo 47 (C)

Roma's crisis continues with a humiliating defeat in Sardinia, as Cagliari took advantage of disastrous defending.

The last time these two teams met at the Olimpico Cagliari were thrashed 5-1, so they were eager for revenge in Sardinia. Roma were still fuming from their controversial 2-1 defeat to Juventus last week and had to do without Ivan Pelizzoli, Christian Panucci and the suspended Amantino Mancini, so former Liverpool defender Abel Xavier made his Serie A debut.

Alessandro Agostini, Nelson Abeijon and Daniele Conti return from a ban to shore up the Rossoblu squad following their last-gasp loss at Parma. It was a special moment for Conti, as his father - Giallorossi legend Bruno Conti - was in the stands celebrating his 50th birthday. Mauro Esposito was able to start despite suffering from flu.

Antonio Cassano's clear offside position saw an early goal disallowed for Roma, while Abel Xavier found it difficult to deal with Esposito's pace.

Francesco Totti's free kick shaved the frame of the goal and Cassano saw timid penalty appeals for Maltagliati's challenge waved away.

However, it was Cagliari who took the lead thanks to some woeful defending. Matteo Ferrari's clearance from a long Maltagliati free kick fell to Gianfranco Zola and his less than irresistable effort took young goalkeeper Carlo Zotti by surprise at the near post.

Zotti was again insecure when he parried a fierce David Suazo strike with his chest and was fortunate there were no Cagliari players to tap in the loose ball.

It was no real surprise when the Sardinians doubled their lead from a Zola free kick. Only Esposito reacted to Conti's free header and tapped in from less than six yards as the entire Roma defence and goalkeeper Zotti were caught ball-watching.

There was bad news soon after, as Zola limped off with a suspected thigh strain. Traianos Dellas was booked for hacking down Esposito and will miss the Milan game.

Suazo had another good chance to make it 3-0 only to fire straight at Zotti, while Vincenzo Montella failed to make the most of a defensive error.

Cristian Chivu made his first appearance of the season in the second half, returning after two operations on a fractured bone in his foot. It wasn't a good start, as two minutes after he came on to the pitch Cagliari scored their third. Gobbi threaded through for David Suazo, whose low drive went in despite Zotti getting a touch.

Roma's nightmare got even worse when Daniele De Rossi was dismissed for a challenge from behind on Suazo. Simone Perrotta's fierce long-range effort was blocked by Gennaro Iezzo, but the Giallorossi couldn't seem to get back into the game.

Cagliari: Iezzo; Agostini, Bega, Maltagliati, Lopez; Gobbi, Budel (Albino 74), Conti (Alvarez 71); Zola (Langella 45), Suazo, Esposito

Roma: Zotti; Xavier, Dellas (Chivu 46), Ferrari, Cufre; Dacourt (Aquilani 56), De Rossi, Perrotta; Totti, Cassano, Montella (Cerci 73)

Ref: Collina

Sent off: De Rossi 58 (R)

Roma defender Philippe Mexes says that "listening to the lies" of Auxerre boss Guy Roux has been the hardest part of a turbulent six months.

Mexes has been at loggerheads with Auxerre since his controversial summer move to Italy, which the Burgundy club claim broke FIFA regulations.

The 22-year-old, who allegedly signed for Roma when still under contract with Auxerre, has subsequently been handed a six-week suspension.

He said that news of the ban came as "a great relief" before launching a scathing attack on Roux. "The hardest part has been listening to all the lies," Mexes told France Football Magazine.

"When Guy Roux says that I was not allowed to leave Auxerre and that he hadn’t granted me permission, it’s not true.

"He wanted me to leave but he wanted me to join the club of his choice – in other words the club that were going to pay the most money.

"That’s the truth of the matter," he added. "Unfortunately I wasn’t out of contract like Olivier Kapo or Jean-Alain Boumsong.

"But I had a clause in my contract which, with the help of my advisors, I used."

Mexes moved to Auxerre from his hometown club Toulouse aged 14 and, under Roux’s tutelage, developed into one of the most promising defenders in Europe.

"It’s not easy to leave Auxerre – just ask Bernard Diomède," the blond stopper continued. "But even if I am young, I’m not afraid to defend myself.

"I did it in 2003 when Auxerre did not want to recognise that I’d signed a contract extension - and I have no problem in doing so again."

Francesco Totti has launched a bitter tirade at Juve, Fabio Capello, referees, the ‘powers that be’ and Alessandro Del Piero.

The fall-out from Roma’s controversial 2-1 defeat to Juventus on Saturday night shows no signs of abating as the captain took the opportunity of today’s press conference to stir up more debate.

“The truth is that it’s difficult to win when it’s 11 men against 14,” said Totti. “If football carries on like this then your desire to play the game will just fall away. By the end of it only two or three clubs will bother carrying on.”

The Giallorossi had won the Scudetto with Capello at the helm in 2001, but that was an unusual blot on the landscape.

“In 10 years only Roma and Lazio have broken the stranglehold over the title. As for the rest, it was all Juve and Milan, taking it in turns. I don’t care if I get fined for saying this, as I am just speaking the truth.”

The fiery encounter at the Stadio Olimpico also saw Leandro Cufre caught on camera striking Del Piero on the chin after an altercation in the penalty area. So far, the Disciplinary Commission has not called for video evidence to be used and Totti gives an interesting take on the whole incident.

“Cufre was not crazy and if you watch the footage again then you’ll see that before he hit Del Piero, the Juve man punched him in the stomach,” continued the Roma star. “I don’t want to say Cufre was right to do it, but these things happen in a tense game and Del Piero was not an innocent bystander to be praised for his fair play. The media talks about what it wants to, regardless of the evidence.”

The Argentine defender also spoke up about the incident after he was vilified in the Italian Press for lashing out.

“Del Piero kicked me from behind and then he punched me in the stomach before I retaliated,” said Cufre. “How can Juve boast of fair play when their team has given away more free kicks than anyone else and then come to Rome to steal points?”

At the end of the 90 minutes there were over 63 free kicks awarded – more than any other Serie A game so far this season – but referee Racalbuto was blasted for handing Juventus a penalty for a foul that was outside the area.

“The referee made the biggest mistake right from the start, as he changed the face of the game,” insisted Totti. “Juve committed at least 30 fouls early on, and if he had started waving yellow cards around then the situation would not have gotten out of hand.”

However, Totti also reserved his barbed comments for teammate Antonio Cassano, who gave a television interview before the match praising Capello and confessing that he was re-evaluating his contract negotiations with Roma.

“We all know Antonio and that his timing isn’t great,” noted his friend. “It was rather hurtful to hear some of the things he said, but he made that choice. I’d advise Cassano to leave Capello and Juventus well alone. As for my own future, the club knows what my terms are and I don’t want to leave.”

Traianos Dellas has spiced up the controversy surrounding Juve’s victory by claiming the referee’s 'mission' was to favour the visitors.

“The referee had to help out Juventus. That was his mission,” slammed the Roma defender. “Milan had already won earlier in the day, so the Turin team also needed a victory to stay top.”

It was clear that the Saturday evening clash at the Stadio Olimpico would cause controversy, but with both of Juve’s goals stirring up debate the 2-1 result is set to hit the headlines for some time.

Dellas was at the centre of the most contested incident, as he tripped Marcelo Zalayeta for the winning penalty. Replays clearly showed the foul took place outside the area, but Alessandro Del Piero converted to give Juve the three points.

“It was all too clear that Referee Salvatore Racalbuto was favouring Juventus,” added the Euro 2004 winner. “The penalty was definitely outside the area, and Zalayeta also admitted as much to me afterwards.”

The Greek defender saved his most damaging blast to the ‘powers that be’ which run the Italian game, suggesting that there was a conspiracy against Roma.

“Seeing as Milan had won at the 94th minute against Atalanta, it was obvious that Juventus also had to get the three points and it was the referee’s mission to ensure that happened."

"If the Scudetto has already been assigned in advance, I’d appreciate it if they told us so we wouldn’t waste our energy trying to win games.”

The rest of the team was not quite so vicious in its reaction, although on the field Vincenzo Montella and Antonio Cassano were repeatedly restrained from arguing with the officials.

“Both of Juve’s goals should have been disallowed,” noted Olivier Dacourt. “They are such a strong team that they really don’t need these favours.”

Coach Gigi Del Neri insisted he would not talk about the refereeing errors, but did make an intriguing comment. “The images are clear for all to see. In my view, we won 1-0.”
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Scorers: Cannavaro 12 (J), Cassano 39 (R), Del Piero pen 44 (J)

An extremely controversial Alex Del Piero penalty gave Juve the victory at the Olimpico and Roma are furious as Fabio Capello gets his revenge.

This has always been a fiery encounter, but it went into overdrive following the controversial events of the summer. Emerson, Jonathan Zebina and Coach Fabio Capello joined rivals Juventus and have since been dubbed 'traitors' by the Roma faithful.

The Bianconeri opted for a trident attack with Marcelo Zalayeta joining Alessandro Del Piero and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, while Lilian Thuram was able to start despite suffering from flu.

Roma kept faith with Daniele De Rossi in midfield, while Francesco Totti returned from suspension to bolster their strike force. The pressure was on Gigi Del Neri's men following their 2-0 defeat at Palermo, while the visitors needed a victory to maintain Milan's pace at the top of the table.

Vincenzo Montella thought he had opened the scoring after two minutes, but it was correctly disallowed for an offside position. Moments later, Gianluigi Buffon could only punch out a Totti free kick and Matteo Ferrari's follow-up was charged down by Emerson.

However, it was Juventus who took the lead with their first chance of the game. A Mauro German Camoranesi free kick found Ibrahimovic for a free header that was only pushed into Fabio Cannavaro's path by goalkeeper Ivan Pelizzoli. Notably, both Bianconeri stars were unmarked when the set-piece was floated in, though Cannavaro was probably offside when Ibrahimovic made contact.

Totti was able to carry on after treatment for a painful nudge in the ribs, then Zebina was felled by Leandro Cufre clattering into his back after the ball had already been released.

A scuffle broke out after 21 minutes with former teammates Totti and Zebina both booked with the Roma captain going in high and the Frenchman reacting. Olivier Dacourt was also shown the yellow card for a dreadful challenge on Ibrahimovic.

Zebina did well to prevent Cassano's through ball reaching Montella in the six-yard box, and Buffon stuck out a hand as Christian Panucci nutmegged Cannavaro, but the first half was increasingly tense and choppy with repeated fouls.

Just before half-time, Roma finally found a breakthrough. Manuele Blasi's pass was intercepted and Totti quickly slipped the ball through to Cassano. The ex-Bari youngster was onside and two of his teammates were considered to be in passive positions, so Cassano stroked his finish past a helpless Buffon from eight yards. The Giallorossi star was booked for his celebration, having kicked down the corner flag.

However, less than two minutes later Zalayeta was tripped by Traianos Dellas and the referee pointed to the spot. It was on the very edge of the penalty area and replays suggest it was outside, prompting furious protests from the Roma players - especially Montella, who was practically restrained by his teammates. Alessandro Del Piero stepped up and slammed a confident spot-kick past an immobile Pelizzoli to restore Juve's extremely controversial lead.

On the stroke of half-time there was an off the ball incident that could lead to a ban for Cufre' as he was caught on camera slapping Del Piero.

After the restart, Emerson's long-range strike whistled over the bar, while Amantino Mancini replaced De Rossi for a more attacking Roma outfit.

Juve went close to extending their lead when Zalayeta fought his way past one challenge and Pelizzoli did well to hold his position and block with his feet.

Del Piero was surprisingly substituted and replaced by defender Gianluca Pessotto as Capello tried to make them a more solid line-up under increasing pressure from the home side.

Cannavaro needed a great tackle to prevent Cassano from skipping his way into the area, then at the other end Ibrahimovic had a goal disallowed for offside, although the Swede was level with Camoranesi's pass and therefore it was an incorrect decision.

Juve were extremely lucky not to conceded an equaliser on 67 minutes, as Thuram dived in to take the ball off Montella's feet from close range with only Buffon to beat and a deflected clearance whistled just wide of the empty net.

The Bianconeri were increasingly desperate and flung bodies at shots from Totti, Montella and Cassano. Totti's free header floated just past the woodwork, then Ibrahimovic picked the wrong pass on the counter-attack with Gianluca Pessotto unmarked in the centre.

Pelizzoli needed two touches to keep a Blasi piledriver under control, but the second half was almost entirely one-way traffic directed at Buffon's net.

David Trezeguet made an appearance late on, as he has missed the last three games with a flu virus, but Roma kept on pushing and Montella fired just wide of the near post with his weaker right foot.

There was panic in the area when Totti's sweeping pass took a touch off Zebina and into the grateful arms of Buffon, but it could so easily have been an own goal.

Del Neri went for broke and threw on teenage striker Daniele Corvia, so there were four strikers on the pitch plus Amantino Mancini for the final stages. Totti's free kick took a deflection off the defensive wall and bounced just past the post with Buffon stranded.

Another big scuffle broke out in stoppages as Cassano had to be dragged away from Camoranesi, who he accused of wasting time. The final whistle also saw some problems between opposition players as they left the field.

Roma: Pelizzoli; Panucci, Dellas, Ferrari, Cufre (Corvia 85); Perrotta, Dacourt (Aquilani 69), De Rossi (Mancini 53); Totti, Montella, Cassano

Juventus: Buffon; Zebina, Thuram, Cannavaro, Zambrotta; Camoranesi, Blasi, Emerson; Zalayeta, Del Piero (Pessotto 56), Ibrahimovic (Trezeguet 78)

Ref: Racalbuto
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