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AS Roma hold fourth-place Udinese to 3-3 draw
Striker Vincenzo Montella scored his 20th goal of the season to help AS Roma hold fourth-place Udinese to a 3-3 draw Sunday that ended the Roman side's four-match losing streak in the Serie A.
Udinese held fourth place in the standings with 49 points, one clear of Sampdoria which played a goalless draw at Cagliari. AC Milan and Juventus confirmed their joint Serie A leadership on Saturday, each scoring draws against lowly opponents. Milan was held 1-1 by visiting Brescia, while Juventus struggled to make it 3-3 at Fiorentina. Also on Saturday, Inter Milan beat Bologna 1-0 as the three top Italian teams played early matches ahead of their Champions League quarterfinals next week. In other 30th-round matches Sunday, Palermo beat 10-man Messina 2-1 in the Sicilian Derby, with striker Luca Toni netting the winner and his 14th goal this season in the 72nd minute. Atalanta downed Chievo 3-0 to tie Brescia at 27 points and revive its hopes of escaping relegation. Lecce and Siena drew 2-2 and Lazio beat Livorno 3-1 with Brazilian Cesar converting a penalty and setting up a goal by Roberto Muzzi at Stadio Olimpico. Parma won 3-1 at Reggina to take a decisive step away from the relegation zone. At Udine, Cristian Chivu, returning from a long injury absence, scored the opening goal for Roma with a curling free kick in the 14th minute. Montella made it 2-0 nine minutes later with a precise header off a cross from Brazilian Amantino Mancini. The Roman side, fielding several junior players to make up for key suspensions including that of captain Francesco Totti and defender Christian Panucci, allowed Udinese to come back within six minutes. Forward Antonio Di Natale scored in the 27th on a low cross from Marek Jankulovski, who also fed midfielder Giampiero Pinzi for 2-2 in the 33rd. Mancini put Roma back in the lead in the 43rd with a diagonal shot off an assist by Antonio Cassano and Udinese almost needed the entire second half to make it 3-3 thanks to Di Michele's 12th season goal. Di Michele nearly scored a winner for the home side with a bicycle kick in injury time. The draw gave Roma seventh place in the standings, tied with Cagliari on 39 points. Bruno Conti, who took over from Luigi Del Neri as Roma coach two weeks ago, said he was satisfied with the result and the overall performance of what he called "mye baby Roma." "They did very well and achieved a good result against a very strong team," said Conti, who was in charge of Roma's junior teams before replacing Del Neri. Udinese coach Luciano Spalletti said "we definitely lost two points." "My team was double faced, it suffered Roma play in the first half and dominated in the second," he said. AC Milan and Juventus have 67 points each and are 14 ahead of Inter. Crosstown rivals AC Milan and Inter will play their second-leg of the Champions League quarterfinals at San Siro Tuesday, while Juventus will host Liverpool on Wednesday. Milan won the first leg 2-0. Juventus trailed Liverpool 2-1.
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