| Amantino Mancini and Francesco Totti bagged braces to beat Palermo 4-0 and confirm Roma as Inter's main Scudetto challengers. This was a head to head battle for second place and the chance to chase runaway leaders Inter. Roma needed to get back on track following their crushing 3-0 derby defeat, while the Rosanero were knocked out of the UEFA Cup this week. Surprisingly, David Di Michele was benched in favour of Andrea Caracciolo. The first chance was after two minutes, as Francesco Totti's dummy let Simone Perrotta free in the centre to side-foot just wide of the upright. Soon after another similar move had Amantino Mancini's effort charged down. Totti's looping cross-shot was flapped out from under the crossbar, then on 17 minutes a free kick from the captain reached Philippe Mexes at the back post, whose header thumped the upright with Alberto Fontana stranded. Fabio Simplicio anticipated Alexander Doni on Amauri's pass, but couldn't keep the ball in play. Christian Panucci hit the back of the net by nodding on a Totti cross from the left, but it was disallowed for a push on Giuseppe Biava. The Roma man was angry, as he claimed his shirt was being pulled first. A scuffle broke out between Amauri and Mexes, while Daniele De Rossi drilled two long-range efforts from the edge of the area. It was Palermo's turn to be angry with the referee on the half-hour mark, as Amauri fired into the roof of the net from eight yards, but this too was disallowed for Andrea Caracciolo's offside position and a push from the Brazilian. Caracciolo had two efforts charged down, a header cleared by Panucci and the follow-up parried by Doni at the near post. Fontana performed two spectacular and decisive saves on 40 minutes. He beat away a Perrotta close-range sliding finish and Rodrigo Taddei's half-volley, inspired by David Pizarro. The Palermo goalkeeper was finally beaten on the stroke of half-time. Totti rolled the ball across for Mancini's right-foot screamer that went between the defender's legs to block Fontana's view. The Rosanero fought back immediately, Amauri just about getting his head to Eugenio Corini's free kick for a Doni point-blank save. Perrotta fell awkwardly in that move and was stretchered off with a sprained right ankle and knee, so Marco Cassetti came on for the second half, switching Taddei to a more advanced role. Amauri gathered the ball with his back to goal and spun round for a left-foot effort that skimmed the upright, possibly with the aid of a deflection. Roma went even closer, as Mancini rolled across for Panucci's deflected low finish that clipped the upright. From the resulting corner, Marco Pisano hauled down Taddei for a penalty that Totti coolly converted. There was a curious moment when Pisano couldn't stop a sliding tackle and accidentally felled the linesman. Caracciolo should've pulled one back for Palermo when he broke clear into the area, but his first touch let him down and he ballooned it over the bar with Doni to ground. Mancini also wasted an opportunity for the home side, flicking his volley high. Totti waltzed between three defenders and cut in for De Rossi, who somehow fired over the bar from six yards. Francesco Guidolin made a last stab for a goal by throwing on Di Michele and Franco Brienza. Totti nearly broke Fontana's wrist with a missile of a free kick that the veteran goalkeeper stuck out one hand to tip over the bar. Taddei and Mancini exchanged a series of passes to cut the Palermo defence in two and the former Venezia man held off Zaccardo's challenge to fire his second goal of the game under the bar at the near post. Fabio Simplicio was sent off for a second bookable offence, a late tackle on fellow Brazilian Mancini. Roma made it 4-0 in stoppages with a curious goal, as Totti's chip struck Biava's head and looped over the helpless Fontana. | 
