Tonetto lifts Samp and sinks Brescia

In a typical bruising clash, characterised by biting tackles rather than classy football, last weekend Sampdoria proved that there is a significant gulf between the teams in the top half of the standings and those struggling to avoid the drop.

Against Brescia, Sampdoria dominated for long stretches and eventually succeeded in chalking up a valuable away win which propelled them to third place.

Not surprisingly, Brescia pinned their hopes on a goalless draw against in-form Sampdoria ahead of their decisive clashes with Siena, Livorno and Chievo.

But, unfortunately for Alberto Cavasin's team, Sampdoria did not repeat the same mistake committed in their previous away game against Livorno, which they had lost only in the dying moments after they had done so little to win it.

Sampdoria were easily recognisable as the better team. From the word go, they went all out in search of a win to boost their Euro competition hopes. Walter Novellino's team had ample opportunities to score more goals but had to wait until Max Tonetto's 75th-minute stunning strike to make sure of the three points.

Contrary to what many had expected, Sampdoria's play did not suffer a dip since they parted with striker Fabio Bazzani, now at Lazio.

Sampdoria kept playing with great confidence and the morale is now sky-high after leapfrogging Inter into third place following the weekend's results.

Perhaps one of Novellino's secrets is that he has found the right formula ever since Sampdoria overcame Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi stadium on the fourth day.

That victory, which came after three defeats (at the hands of Lazio, Siena and Juventus), represented a change in fortunes for the 1991 champions as slowly, but steadily, Samp started climbing up the ladder until they established themselves in the higher quarters.

Before the season got underway in September, few would have predicted that Sampdoria would challenge for a top-four placing. They were touted as outsiders for a UEFA Cup berth and few believed that they had enough quality to go beyond that.

With only 12 games to go, Sampdoria will now battle it out with Inter, Udinese, Palermo and Roma for the two remaining Champions League berths.

The spectre of last season's collapse and subsequent failure to play in Europe is still clear in Novellino's mind. This time last term, his team was involved in a neck-and-neck race with Udinese for the last available UEFA Cup place. Eventually, Samp finished the season without steam whereas Udinese peaked at the right moment and went on to join Lazio and Parma as Italy's three representatives in the UEFA Cup.

Sampdoria now have a big asset in their hands in that they have to play three of the four direct clashes at home. It is only against Udinese, on the 36th day, that Sampdoria have to face a direct rival for a top-four finish away from home. The chances that Sampdoria will keep on their surge is highly dependable on injuries and suspensions they could possibly incur from now till the end of the season.

Unlike Inter, for instance, Novellino cannot bank on a resourceful squad. The ex-Venezia and Napoli coach usually makes his weekly selections from a squad comprising not more than 14 to 16 players which makes it difficult for him to adopt an ideal rotation policy.

A huge plus for Sampdoria though is that even Udinese, Palermo and Roma have restricted squads and this puts these teams on the same level playing field.

On the other hand, Inter are still involved in the Champions League and a prolonged stay in the competition will surely distract them from their league commitments.

Only time will tell whether Sampdoria will make it or not to the Champions League. If they do, then it will be their first participation since they lost to Barcelona in the 1992 final in Wembley.

Serie A statistics

1 st defeat of the season for Inter as on Sunday they were undone by a late Kaka goal in the derby against Milan. Inter had more of possession but created few scoring chances. Milan were a far cry from the side that had conquered Man. United's Old Trafford four days before. They played a containing game and barely threatened Francesco Toldo in the Inter goal. Milan's fifth straight league win (vs Messina 4-1, Lazio 2-1, Reggina 1-0, Cagliari 1-0 and Inter 1-0) coincided with Inter's first league upset since going down to Lecce on May 2, 2004 (2-1). Also, Inter have not prevailed against Milan in a derby hosted by them since April 13, 1997 (3-1). Juventus, meanwhile, remained level on points with Milan as they cruised to a comprehensive 3-0 home win against Siena. For the latter, this was their second defeat in two visits to Turin and also their first upset after a positive run of seven games.

3 rd straight win for back-to-form Lazio as Giuseppe Papadopulo's side scored a goal in each half to down Parma and hand them their fourth consecutive away defeat. It was Lazio's first home victory against Parma since April 18, 2001 (1-0). At the Artemio Franchi stadium, troubled Fiorentina threw away a 2-0 lead against Udinese to remain in the relegation zone. The home side could not have aspired for a brighter start as they built a seemingly assuring 2-0 lead by the 34th minute. A Sullei Muntari goal on the stroke of half time re-opened the issue for Udinese, who eventually drew level shortly after the break. For Udinese, this was their third successive game without a win (one defeat and two consecutive draws).

3 rd defeat in a row for Chievo as they went down to Reggina for only the second time - the first since December 6, 1998 (1-0 in Serie B) - in seven league visits to the Oreste Granillo stadium. This was Reggina's first success following a bleak run of four winless games (two draws and two defeats). Sunday's defeat left Chievo still searching for their first ever win in Reggio Calabria.

4 months of continuous away setbacks for Atalanta came to an end as on Sunday three times they came from behind to collect a valuable draw against Cagliari. In an action-packed encounter, Daniele Arrigoni's Cagliari put all their attacking qualities on show as they scored at regular intervals. However, three goals were still not enough to see them through as Delio Rossi's side hit back admirably. For the record, Atalanta's only win at Cagliari's Sant'Elia stadium dates back to November 15, 1964 (1-0 in Serie A). At the Dall'Ara stadium, Bologna and Livorno shared the spoils in the only goalless draw of the day. This was the first drawn result between these two sides since February 12, 1939 (1-1) whereas a Livorno success in Bologna has been missing since November 8, 1942 (2-1).

17 years had to pass for Lecce to return to winning ways against Messina at their Via del Mare stadium as Zdenek Zeman's side left it late to record their second successive home victory. The visitors, without an away win since beating Milan on September 22 (2-1), were off to a promising start but not much time had elapsed before they started feeling the pressure exerted by Lecce. Messina resisted until the 85th minute when substitute Sasa Bjelanovic tucked home from close range to leave the Sicilians in the mire of relegation. It is worth mentioning that Messina's only win in 15 league visits to Lecce dates back to March 22, 1992 (2-0 in Serie B). Sampdoria enhanced their chances of booking a Champions League berth as they overcame lowly Brescia to record their seventh away success of the term. Sampdoria's fourth win in their last five outings coincided with relegation-haunted Brescia's second straight defeat. Palermo consolidated their candidature for a Champions League berth by beating direct rivals Roma 2-0 at home for the first time since February 21, 1960 (4-2).

21 goals were scored on the 26th day: 14 coming from the hosts and the remaining seven from the visitors. Foreigners contributed with only eight goals. There were nine first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 633. Roma's Vincenzo Montella still tops the scorers' list with 19 goals. Alessandro Del Piero grabbed the only brace of the weekend against Siena. Neither hat-tricks nor own goals were registered. Lecce striker Sasa Bjelanovic was the only player who came on as a substitute and found the net. Parma's Pietro Carmignani became the latest coach to be ordered off his bench. Meanwhile, four players - Simone Barone (Palermo), Massimo Donati (Messina), Giampiero Pinzi (Udinese) and Nelson Abeijon (Cagliari) - received marching orders. The three penalties taken last weekend were all ably converted by Oddo (Lazio), Del Piero (Juve) and Marcolini (Atalanta).