Inter Milan held by Siena to send title race to final weekend

Inter Milan again missed the chance to retain their Serie A title when they were held 2-2 at home by Siena on Sunday with Marco Materazzi having a penalty saved.

Second-placed AS Roma beat Atalanta 2-1 to cut the gap to one point with one round of matches remaining next weekend.

Livorno were relegated after a 1-0 defeat at home to Torino.

Fiorentina beat relegation-threatened Parma 3-1 to move into fourth spot and the final Champions league qualifying place after AC Milan lost 3-1 at Napoli and now two points behind with a game left.

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Roma keep Serie A title race alive - but Inter need just one more win.

Roma kept the Serie A title race alive for another week at least with a 4-1 thrashing of Torino.

Inter Milan 2-1 Cagliari
Leaders Internazionale won 2-1 at home to Cagliari, Inter's victory was comfortable as they led through Julio Cruz's 21st-minute strike and doubled their lead through second-half substitute Marco Materazzi in the 83rd minute.

Davide Biondini's stoppage-time effort for the visitors was just a consolation.

AS Roma 4-1 Torino
So defeat for Roma would have seen the Nerazzurri claim their second successive Scudetto. But the result was rarely in doubt after David Pizarro opened the scoring for Roma in the 18th minute from the penalty spot.

Mirko Vucinic doubled his team's lead two minutes later and Mancini made it 3-0 in the 25th minute and then netted his second shortly after the half-hour mark.

Substitute Nicola Ventola reduced the deficit five minutes after the interval but the visitors could not make further inroads, even after Roma defender Juan was sent off with 15 minutes left to play.

So Inter Milan can clinch the title next week in the Milan derby with a win.

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Betting Spreadsheet - Italy numbers up.

The Gooners Numb3rs (tm) spreadsheet for the 10 Serie A games this weekend is up and online with some interesting picks.

There are three "likely picks" for Roma, Fiorentina and Inter Milan this weekend as well as three "discovered value" selections as well.

The "fix" also appears to be in on the Siena v Genoa match - where the best price for the draw is as low as 2.05 (at Bet365) and only a handful of bookmakers currently offering a price on this game.

Good luck with your punting and be careful out there.

RELATED LINKS :
Gooners Numb3rs Spreadsheet for Italy Serie A
Live Betting Odds for Serie A from BookieLabRat.com
Football Match Previews for Serie A at GoonersGuide.com

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Manchester Utd step towards semi-finals

Manchester United are into 2/1 (3.00) to win the Champions League after they took a huge step towards the semi-finals.

Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney gave United a 2-0 victory over Roma in the Stadio Olimpico to put them firmly in the driving seat going into the second leg of the quarter-final at Old Trafford next week.

Ronaldo made the breakthrough with a brave header in the first half for his 36th of a remarkable season. Rooney then extended their lead when he took advantage of a mix-up between goalkeeper Doni and Christian Panucci.

And it means the Red Devils, are now a best priced 3.00 (at Betfred) while their likely semi-final opponents Barcelona are next best at 4.00 with Ladbrokes and Centrebet.

Barca also claimed an away win in the first leg of their last-eight clash, beating Schalke 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen. Bojan Krkic scored the only goal of the game in the 12th minute, putting Frank Rijkaard's side in a powerful position ahead of the Nou Camp return.

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Serie A Shocks on Sunday

Substitute Daniel Pablo Osvaldo struck an added-time winner as Fiorentina moved a point behind Juventus with a 3-2 victory in Turin – their first away victory over the Bianconeri in two decades.

SSC Napoli also enjoyed a notable success as they became the first club to beat the champions FC Internazionale Milano in Serie A this term winning 1-0.

That leaves Inter Milan (61) leading by 6 points from AS Roma (55), with Juve (48) and Fiorentina (47) battling for the Champions League spots.

Perrenial powerhouse AC Milan are in 5th spot on 43 points are are starting to run the risk of missing out on a lucrative Champions League spot next season.

The full Serie A table is available on the main Italian page on the GoonersGuide.com site.

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