Sunday, 17th Junel 2001 - Roma News

ROMA CLINCH THE SCUDETTO AS TITLE RACE GOES DOWN TO THE WIRE

ROMA 3-1 PARMA !

Goals from Francesco Totti, Vincenzo Montella and Gabriel Batistuta helped Roma to clinch the third scudetto in their history as they beat Parma 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome this afternoon.

The afternoon started shakily for Roma and just 6-minutes into the game news filtered through that Juventus had taken an early lead in their game against Atalanta, at the point the two sides were level at the top of the table and heading for a title Play-Off.

The tension finally broke when Roma captain Francesco Totti gave his side the lead with a great goal in the 19th minute, after a great feinft from Candela and from that moment the result was never really in doubt, despite a few nervous moments.

In the 33rd minute Gabriel Batistuta broke free and had a good effort saved by Buffon's legs but the ball bounced straight to Vincenzo Montella who simply side footed the ball home to give the home side a 2-0 advantage.

Montella appeared to settle the game with a thrid goal, but for some inexplicable reason the linesman on the far side had his flag raised and his effort was disallowed.

Batistuta finally put the seal on the scudetto when he neatly turned Fabio Cannavaro on the edge of the box and placed the ball past Buffon and into the net with a typical left foot strike. There were an anxious few moments near the end as Parma broke free and Marco Di Vaio scored a consolation goal for the visitors 8-minutes from time.

The game was halted 7-minutes before the end as the fans invaded the pitch and stripped some of the players of their kit, now an annual event up and down the country at the final game of the season.

Play officially restarted with the crowd lining the touchlines but the game never really got going again with the two teams just playing out the final few minutes and the referee, Braschi, finally blowing for full-time with just 89-minutes on the clock.

After leading the title race for most of the season Roma ended their season as Champions, just two points clear of Juventus after holding a 9-point advantage at one stage, the top four clubs will all enter next season's Champions League.

Parma ended their season in 4th place, gaining that vital place in next season's Champions League in the process.