Messina 1 - 1 Roma
Mancini 39 (R), Parisi pen 90 (M)
Stadio San Filippo
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Cristian Chivu's foolish late tackle handed Messina a penalty and left Roma nine points adrift of leaders Inter.
The Capital club needed a victory here to stay within seven points of runaway leaders Inter, but were without Philippe Mexes, Mirko Vucinic , Alberto Aquilani and new signing Francesco Tavano. Messina plummeted down the standings since Christian Rigano's injury and Marco Zoro was also suspended, but gave debuts to new arrivals Giallombardo and Pestrin.
Roma famously lost here 4-3 in September 2004 and were struggling early on against a solid and aggressive midfield.
Simone Perrotta had a shot charged down and Daniele De Rossi's drive from the edge of the box was smothered. Messina lost new signing Giallombardo with a knee injury.
Francesco Totti combined with Amantino Mancini, the Brazilian's finish parried from point-blank range.
Roma finally broke through just before half-time on the counter-attack. Rodrigo Taddei and Totti exchanged first-time passes for Mancini to place a low drive into the net. As assured after this week's controversy over their bitter feud, Mancini and Totti celebrated together.
Messina were furious, as Lavecchia was on the ground at the other end of the field, and a group of fans broke down the plexiglas separating the stands from the pitch. A few figures ran on to the field and others painted graffiti on the wall urging President Pietro Franza to sell the club.
When play finally resumed, Taddei won back the ball and his cross-shot was captured by an attentive Marco Storari.
Yet Messina nearly equalised during the seven minutes of first half stoppages. Roma gave away an avoidable corner kick and Alexander Doni pushed a Lavecchia header out from the top corner, with Perrotta needing a crucial clearance at the back post as the move continued.
Messina boss Bruno Giordano chose to make a tactical switch, replacing substitute Nicolas Cordova with striker Arturo Di Napoli, while Lavecchia limped off.
There were Sicilian penalty appeals for a Mancini handling offence, but the Brazilian had his arm across his chest and so it could not be considered an intentional foul.
De Rossi and David Pizarro picked up yellow cards and will be suspended next week against Livorno.
Roma were inconsistent, but showed flashes of brilliance, as another quick team move ended with a scuffed Totti drive from the edge of the area thumping the base of the post.
A Totti free kick was pushed away by Storari at full stretch, but there was controversy when Matteo Ferrari appeared to pull back Sergio Floccari by his shirt in the penalty area.
Christian Wilhelmsson made his Serie A debut in place of Taddei in the final 10 minutes. Mancini should've put the result beyond doubt, but his angled drive was too close to the goalkeeper.
It looked as if Roma were cruising towards victory when, in the final minute, Cristian Chivu foolishly clattered into Di Napoli when they were practically on the by-line. The Giallorossi were furious, as they claimed there was an earlier foul on Pizarro. Alessandro Parisi took a stuttering run-up and converted to draw Messina level.
Parisi still managed to blot his performance with a red card for his clumsy late tackle on Wilhelmsson. In the sixth minute of stoppages, Storari dived to the ground to fingertip Marco Cassetti's snapshot on to the upright.
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Messina: Storari; Rea, Zanchi, Iuliano, Parisi; Lavecchia (Alvarez 61), Pestrin, De Vezze, Giallombardo (Cordova 28) (Di Napoli 56), Masiello; Floccari
Roma: Doni; Panucci, Ferrari, Chivu, Tonetto; De Rossi, Pizarro; Taddei (Wilhelmsson 80), Perrotta, Mancini; Totti
Ref: Rocchi
Sent off: Parisi 93 (M)
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Pretty stupid loss of points. We only have ourselves to blame for this.
I'd keep on hoping Inter will get ****ed up eventually. But it turn out that we're the one who got ****ed up.